
YouTubers Will Enter Politics - crunchiebones
https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/ryanhatesthis/brazils-congressional-youtubers
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gregjwild
They haven't already? YouTube is already a key intellectual touchstone for
many people already. Whether or not they're party members, they're already
influencing many people's views.

I personally worry about it given the flagrant disregard for rigor in their
op-ed style, but it's here to stay.

~~~
pjc50
Not so much "disregard for vigor" as systematic far-right racism, helped along
by Youtube's algorithmic suggestions. Not only is there a risk of them in
politics but also of them radicalising the already angry to acts of terrorism.

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stale2002
This is less ridiculous than it sounds.

There is a long history of entertainers and cultural icons becoming
politicians.

And YouTube and other streaming platforms are merely the newest and recently
successful platforms for entertainment and cultural influence.

It should not be surprising that these new cultural icons might enter
politics.

~~~
twblalock
It's funny how standards change. During the 1980 campaign, people complained
that Ronald Reagan was just an aging pretty-boy actor whose only political
experience was 8 years as governor of California.

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ValleyOfTheMtns
I'm reminded of the Black Mirror episode "The Waldo Moment".

It's the 3rd episode of season 2 (6th episode overall). Worth watching.

~~~
siruncledrew
There are times when I think Black Mirror portrays things too ridiculously,
but the underlying sentiments end up being eerily real.

~~~
0xdeadb00f
Agreed. That episode in particular had quite an unbelievable ending.

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G4BB3R
The article forgot to tell that they were financed by the most corrupt party
in Brazil, PMDB.

~~~
adnzzzzZ
As with any claim made against them, there's at least a video of one of them
talking about it. Sadly, only those who understand Portuguese can draw their
own conclusions
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9lDTRhfyVXE](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9lDTRhfyVXE),
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SprN1s7aW8k](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SprN1s7aW8k)

In my opinion, the claim "they were financed by PMDB" is fake news that people
who only read headlines fall for, as stated in one of the videos.

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agumonkey
Who's gonna be youtube's Reagan ?

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davedx
Already happened in the UK: Sargon of Akkad and CountDankula joined UKIP and
are out there speaking out about their brand of alt right/lite YouTube
politics.

PrisonPaul of InfoWars also joined, but it seems he’s still mostly staying in
his basement and making endless clips about PC or immigration than making the
transition to “IRL” like the other two have.

What kind of impact this will have remains to be seen. UKIP is still a fringe
party for now.

~~~
funkythings
Given you are calling Sargon and Count Dankula alt-right shows how little you
know about them.

~~~
namdnay
I think it's fair to say that Benjamin is somewhere in the alt-right nebula:
Anti-feminism, UKIP, 4chan, anti-"political correctness"... If it quacks like
a duck

~~~
funkythings
alt-right is right wing identity politics.

Sargon is anti identity politics and a classic, free speech pro-capitalist
liberal. I'm not sure where you take your information from

~~~
cremno
People just have to look at the politicians and parties he's supporting. For
example in the last French presidential election he opposed the pro-capitalist
liberal (redundant as liberals are by definition pro-capitalism). I wonder
what's his opinion on the Brazil one. A moderate social democrat vs. fascist
belonging to a party called the "Social Liberal Party"?

He's not even a good source of information as his 3 hours long videos consist
of Wikipedia articles he glanced through and repeating extreme right-wing
conspiracies (Cultural Marxism, the terrorist attack at the Unite the Right
rally).

(Also the only decent anti-idpol people are Marxists.)

~~~
funkythings
cultural marxism is an extreme right wing view?

The term "liberal" has changed in the minds of people, my friend. Liberals are
now synonymous with left wingers, who are NOT pro-capitalist.

~~~
poilcn
The US is not the whole world. In Europe, liberalism is synonym to «market
liberalism».

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comesee
I love how fast things are changing. Excited to see where things go

~~~
comesee
HN is a weird place, so weird I was downvoted for being excited about the
future.

~~~
robfitz
Upvotes & downvotes are used in a specific way here. They aren't meant to show
agreement or support, but rather to recognise that your comment holds some
interesting value (or lack thereof) for other readers. A quick comment of
excitement is low value to other readers, regardless of it being an authentic
feeling. Hope that clarifies.

~~~
to_bpr
This might have been true 18+ months ago, but not now. HN now more closely
resembles, and more closely acts like, Reddit in 2018 than HN in 2016.

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elocinstr8t
Today it's the YouTubers. Tomorrow, it's the AI running for office. Welcome to
digital age. Do you think this will be for the better? I mean, sure, if these
YouTubers studied and know politics, but if they're doing it just because they
can, then we're probably still doomed.

~~~
gt2
I think that's quite a leap you made.

These are still people and YouTube just gave them a platform to become
popular.

~~~
elocinstr8t
It is, but think about what happened in the American politics and who ended up
in the position. He did because he can and now look at the situation of the
country. It's true they're still people, but we can't deny the fact that there
are those who will run for office just because they can. I won't say all of
them should stay away from the politics, but one or two of those YouTubers
could be running for office just for the sake of "views" and "likes".

