there's no feigning skill

competing is i think more broadly relevant

they detest that because it goes against the "everyone works the same effort, those who think differently are just spreading capitalist propaganda, there's no such thing as passion"

narrative

@tritrium I get what you're saying, but I'd caution you about trying to use fiction to bolster. For rhetorical purposes, sure, but I saw a lot of people on the far left bolstering their points with stuff like "REMEMBER THAT MARVEL MOVIE!?" as if that was an argument

you can't cheat against a situation where 2 are placed at the same capability & your skill decides the winner

yeah but im not using fiction

they DETEST that

what do you, as a tyrant do if you want to take over a society?

you first start with 3 things

merits

art

& comedy

merits suggest that some people can do more than others

and if that's the case, potentially someone can do better than the tyrant

the satanic panic had rob halfard needing to testify in court over moralist lunatics playing a song backwards and "hearing" something in it.

You had kids whipped up in the frenzy getting people locked up for years over pure lies in the middle of it

art, art is the voice of humanity, and it requires free expression to function well, which is dangerous for a tyrant

art immitates life

you don't want others knowing

its mass hysteria

you have to keep it hidden

and mass hysteria is fertile ground for authoritarianism

<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-9NMt42il4Q>

and third

comedy

comedy speaks truth to power

comedy speaks truth period

it's not something one wants if you're totalitarian

dictators detest the sound of laughter

It's why the left can't meme.

Because comedy is funny when it's true.

what you do as a tyrant is you take those elements

point is im not justifying my theory on fiction, im justifying the relevance of the fiction based on real events

"SO UH HOW ABOUT THAT WAGE GAP?!"

and turn them to propaganda

this only works

When you know that there isn't a wage gap, any joke about it falls flat.

if you're the sole one making jokes and making art

And plenty of people made those jokes.

if there's someone else doing them without being part of your rule