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Thursday 23 February 2012
Santorum's Rise and the Shocking Power of Future Shock

Do not underestimate Rick Santorum. He has a powerful wind at his back. His journey from homophobic Internet-joke to the top of the Republican field is being propelled, in part, by his tapping into a deep longing for a simpler, less technological time. [If you are not in on the Internet-joke, please click the link]. Whether by design or by accident, Santorum is capitalizing on our collective exhaustion from living in an ever-changing technologically-mediated future. The future has become our now and, well, lots of people are not so impressed. Truth be told, some are pretty tired of the whole thing. By being the anti-science, anti-progress candidate, by showing he too suffers from our collective “future shock,” Santorum has made “santorum” work for him.

The contrast with recent Democratic presidents could not be more striking. Clinton, like the Fleetwood Mac song that animated the first campaign, never wanted to stop thinking about tomorrow. And today Obama is all about tomorrow: “hope and change,” “winning the future,” an American economy “built to last.”

But Santorum’s campaign is in the past tense. The poetry of his campaign is to fight for an America that used to be. He’s a self-described “champion of traditional American values” with “The Courage to Fight for America.” And if that’s not enough, as stated on his campaign web-page, all you have to do is “donate $100 or more using the form below, and we will send you an official Rick Santorum For President sweater vest. Perfect for demonstrating solidarity with true conservatives.” No fashion-forward thinking here, let’s dress like it’s the 50s! And in doing so change the tense of American politics from the future to the past.

Of course, a campaign built on the appeal of “sweater vest culture” would not work at all were it not for one thing: The future is not turning out to be as amazing as we were told it was going to be, despite having all the next great things. Everything is faster, just not better.

32 notes

  1. lunaticprophet reblogged this from azspot
  2. silas216 reblogged this from azspot
  3. ashemountain reblogged this from choopakrampus and added:
    Mostly I was trying to say something that would get me landed on a terrorist watch list. >_> BUT SERIOUSLY, I FUCKING...
  4. choopakrampus reblogged this from ashemountain and added:
    Ashe, don’t kill yourself… Kill other people. You’re of no use to the revolution if you’re dead. But seriously, Santorum...
  5. lizawithazed reblogged this from runicbasso and added:
    I am very very scared right now.
  6. infamous-sodomite reblogged this from runicbasso
  7. wateringgoodseeds reblogged this from azspot and added:
    True enough, but it was always thus. The temptation to “go back to the good old days” is universal — because childhood...
  8. jonprins reblogged this from azspot and added:
    Mainly due to backwards thinking Luddites who want it to be worse, so you’ll give them more power.
  9. runicbasso reblogged this from abaldwin360 and added:
    I am legitimately frightened, but not without reason.
  10. abaldwin360 reblogged this from murphysbride and added:
    This guy is fucking dangerous. Everyone thought G.W. Bush was a joke back in 99/2000 too, and he was president for 8...
  11. hairtrending reblogged this from azspot
  12. longlivelongbottom reblogged this from azspot
  13. azspot posted this

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