If you haven’t been paying attention, one of the latest narratives to take root in the zeitgei
The Weird Thing
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This commentary is being provided to you as general information only and should not be taken as investment advice. The opinions expressed in these materials represent the personal views of the author(s). It is not investment research or a research recommendation, as it does not constitute substantive research or analysis. Any action that you take as a result of information contained in this document is ultimately your responsibility. Epsilon Theory will not accept liability for any loss or damage, including without limitation to any loss of profit, which may arise directly or indirectly from use of or reliance on such information. Consult your investment advisor before making any investment decisions. It must be noted, that no one can accurately predict the future of the market with certainty or guarantee future investment performance. Past performance is not a guarantee of future results. Statements in this communication are forward-looking statements. The forward-looking statements and other views expressed herein are as of the date of this publication. Actual future results or occurrences may differ significantly from those anticipated in any forward-looking statements, and there is no guarantee that any predictions will come to pass. The views expressed herein are subject to change at any time, due to numerous market and other factors. Epsilon Theory disclaims any obligation to update publicly or revise any forward-looking statements or views expressed herein. This information is neither an offer to sell nor a solicitation of any offer to buy any securities. This commentary has been prepared without regard to the individual financial circumstances and objectives of persons who receive it. Epsilon Theory recommends that investors independently evaluate particular investments and strategies, and encourages investors to seek the advice of a financial advisor. The appropriateness of a particular investment or strategy will depend on an investor’s individual circumstances and objectives.
Great follow-up brief to Rusty’s tour de force note yesterday!
I’m a believer in bottom-up change, and this note kicked that belief into the next gear. Thank you for sharing @rguinn! You’re right, that is the weirdest thing about weird.
“But weird didn’t need a meticulously planned conspiracy to become a dominant narrative.”
But it’s my expression of MY autonomy of mind and spirit that you are calling weird, right? Is it like the dominate narrative of ether before quantum physics?
Isn’t a word a non fungible token?
fungible weird jim
“I think most Americans still look at San Francisco, Austin, Berkeley, and Portland as their capitals of weird” - Rusty
You must’ve left out Burlington, Vermont only because of its smaller scale. Otherwise….
What struck me most about this “weird” thing is that it isn’t directed at the voters the way “deplorables” was. Trump is the one being “othered” and not his fan base. If Hillary’s dumb comment taught the DNC anything it was this, and the Dems might have learned that lesson.
Orchestrated to some degree or not, the stickiness of weird is undeniable.
I wonder how much they’re going to regret playing this game when the response is going to be ‘the people who applaud grown men dressed as women doing highly sexualized dances in front of children think we’re weird because we would like more people to get married and have babies’.
Vance’s weirdness—which is more a combination of social awkwardness and attention seeking from what he perceives to be his crowd—seems downright pedestrian when you start comparing it to a lot of the other things that have been shoehorned into everyday life. And this sort of very dumb battle is exactly how you get fewer and fewer potential supporters to stick up for your more fringe ideas.
On this one I’d bet on Scott Adams being correct. To judge between the two theories it would be helpful to know whether the news pundits in multiple states all started saying “weird” on the same day, or was there evidence of the delay of a wave spreading. Perhaps seeing a compilation video of many pundits saying “weird” has given me a false sense of synchronized appearance of the messaging.
I suspect it won’t stick. It is a boring message that will lose its energy quickly, and as others have said, it is too easy for the Republicans to just hold up a mirror to the more extreme parts of the Democrats base and say “Oh really, you think we are weird?”.
The stickiness of any word is undeniable.
-rumplestiltskin jim
Couldn’t agree more on this point, but it’s going to be interesting to watch as it’s directed at Trump himself and not his fanbase this time around.
Plenty of weirdness within the fanbase on both sides - always was, except now it’s more visible (edit) and “whataboutism” is such a bottomless pit effectively (over)used to demonize the other side.
Sigh. On the political playground Team R shot back with Wacky. Those still on the fence must now decide which moniker they dislike more - Weird or Wacky? My 5 year old grandson can now enter this substantive platform debate as he learned Nana Nana Boo Boo on the Pre-K playground.
This all is frozen in place until Trump settles on a nickname for Harris. Once he’s got that out in the world it’ll be the only thing he and his base use against her, so it’ll be ‘Donald Trump is weird’ vs ‘Commie Kamala’ or whatever he lands on. Most Important Election In My Lifetime
indeed.