Populism will always exist. Check the Cute Bloddy Grampa in Indonesia

[Rafael Thundercat]

 

The man is using AI cute images of himself to get votes from the young generation. 

Prabowo Subianto: Indonesia's 'cuddly grandpa' with a bloody past. 

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-68028295

Indonesia goes to elections this Wednesday. The use of artificial intelligence, which turned a candidate into an animated puppet, is seen as a test for elections in India and the United States.

Prabowo is Indonesia's defense minister and a fierce nationalist. But his chubby-cheeked AI avatar already has around 19 billion views on TikTok.

A poll conducted in January by Indikator Politik found that Prabowo had more than 60 percent of the vote from Generation Z. 

 

[bebotalk]

Politics is about appealing to people and selling a vision. This is true in all systems, and not just liberal democracies. China wouldn't have become communist had Mao not convinced the masses to support him in ousting Chiang. Hitler, Mussolini, Franco, etc. all came to power via means of popular support. Populism is therefore natural. 

I don't know much about Indonesian politics, though I don't see what he's doing wrong. It's his job, if he wants to gain office, to appeal to people. 

[Ima Freeman]

18 minutes ago, bebotalk said:

Politics is about appealing to people and selling a vision. This is true in all systems, and not just liberal democracies. China wouldn't have become communist had Mao not convinced the masses to support him in ousting Chiang. Hitler, Mussolini, Franco, etc. all came to power via means of popular support. Populism is therefore natural. 

In a sense, democracy is populism. In our modern times, the parties are competing for the most votes.

And what are the means trough which they do that? With charismatic candidates. 

There are despots though, and not all parties are using drama and fear in the same unethical way.

[bebotalk]

Many despots rose to power on popular revolutions, or otherwise winning the masses over. 

I'd argue that appealing to the many is key in any political system. Mao made the Chinese population realise communism was the answer and the PRC has existed ever since. It's not something that's strictly related to democracy. China still is ruled by the Communist Party since its ensured that the Chinese people see it as the only true way for China. 

I don't know much about Indonesian politics, but it seems he is just using technology to appeal to voters. 

Edited February 18 by bebotalk