p/future_leaders

How does someone run for office in todays time without selling out?

My fear is that good people with genuine intentions are just blacklisted (or worse) if they blatantly have branding not establishment approved. Or any groups that do make significant headway, are 'planted' with bad actors in order to disenfranchise them and vilify the entire movement. **1) (Method Independent Sapling) If you want to start from scratch**: 1\. Start building a digital presence/following now (even if small, consistency matters). Start a podcast, YouTube channel, or TikTok series where you break down political manipulation, expose hypocrisy, and offer clear solutions. If you can get traction, this builds both name recognition and credibility. 2\. Memes & Digital Campaigning: utilize viral moments and online engagement. Humor is your friend. 3\. Build wealth or connections in industries that allow independence. (Tech, media, finance, and real estate are the biggest fields that have produced politically independent figures.)  4. Community Activism: Get involved in local activism or policy battles to build credibility. Preferably visible fights at the local level. Whether it’s school board issues, local corruption, or economic policy, being the face of a real battle can launch a political career. You don’t need to be a billionaire to win (though it would help), but you need either mass public appeal or independent resources. Debatably, I'd call this hard-mode. 2) **(Method hemi-epiphyte**) Borrow roots from a corrupt tree:  [image] Consider infiltrating the opposing party. (I feel like radical 'progressives' successfully do this all the time honestly, successfully replacing what was one more traditionally-liberal representatives. Or they do it to court the other side and independents: see Gavin Newsom's recent interview with Kirk where he's pretending to be a moderate in preparation for his presidential campaign.) I feel like there's plenty of past candidates have positioned themselves within a party they don’t fully align with to gain power or shift its direction from within. 1. %%Why It Works%%: If one party dominates an area, running under that party’s banner gives you access to resources, voters, and credibility you wouldn’t have as an outsider. Examples: Donald Trump effectively took over the Republican Party despite not being a traditional conservative. Bernie Sanders, an independent socialist, has run as a Democrat for Senate and presidential races. 2\. %%Key Challenges & Solutions%% Getting past party gatekeepers: Build a personal following so they need you more than you need them. Convincing voters: Speak the language of the party but stay true to your actual principles. Avoiding exposure as a fraud: Focus on policies and common ground rather than full ideological alignment. Navigating primaries: Run on a populist or reformist platform that appeals to the party’s base. 3\. %%Choosing the Right Party to Infiltrate%% If you're in a deeply blue area (like your hometown), running as a moderate/anti-establishment Democrat could work. Some regions are more open to independent candidates if they brand themselves correctly. 4\. %%Execution Plan%% Build a Reputation First – Start by working within local politics, activism, or media to gain credibility. Run for Local Office First – School boards, city councils, and state legislatures are easier to win and give you a platform for bigger races. Create a team - Find others with a similar desire to shift the party, there's power in numbers. Position Yourself as the “Common Sense” Option – Don’t go in with extreme rhetoric; instead, highlight the failings of the establishment while promoting practical solutions. Use the Party’s Own Internal Divisions – Many parties have internal factions (progressives vs. moderates in the Democratic Party, populists vs. neocons in the GOP). Align with the faction closest to your views while subtly pushing your real agenda. 5\. %%The Long Game%% If done right, this can be a Trojan Horse strategy where you get into power, shift policies, and expose corruption from within. Even better, if you get more people on board to infiltrate together with you. Further, you can create a 'split' within the party, siphoning all those members with beliefs like yours with you under your new umbrella. (Ex: currently what's happening to the Tories in Britain, with it's offshoot 'Reform' increasingly taking a chunk of the Tories' traditional constituents) However, it requires patience, discipline, and an ability to navigate political deception without losing your integrity. Tldr: Play 'Good-guy Among Us' irl, with the intention of shedding light/exposing corruption within the belly of the beast + plant the seed to eventually carry the good members out of the rot and into a new non-corrupt party.

I think that your first statement about what you fear is entirely true.  I had thought about starting a podcast/online presence but I came to the concussion in my head that I would simply be deplatformed at some point and instead focused on gaining wealth and influence in my community.  I have since moved away from my home town and to a nice regular place, so a lot of people around me are closer to my worldview now.   Your second solution made me realize a possible route that piggy backs off of this idea.  Everyones favorite German politician actually did this, he did take some donation money from the usual sources to fund his campaign, and then pretty much backstabbed them.  He was though clear with his message the entire time, I guess they were trying to make him sell out and bribe him.  I do not think that is possible today, if you speak out against the machine you will be blacklisted from politics.  A route that could be feasible though is to do like you said, gain exposure and choose a party and receive the funding and then once you are in a position of power show your true colors and do something cool like put us on the gold standard and disband the federal reserve.  Would this be possible though without an entire movement behind you?  While this strategy could get you to power, you need congress and the rest of government (and support from the people) to enact anything like that.  In the switch up scenario you get elected but you may not be able to do much.   Would it then be better to find a strategy for making these ideas more popular?  Instead of Germanys solution to the financial problem, I think we just need people to realize megacorps and banks are the problems, the ones controlling politics.  If the government declared vangaurd, blackrock, statestreet enemies of the state, sieze their assets, and just let the companies who they held stock in keep the money (ie. vanguard owns 13% of google, that stock just gets given to google for free).  End the Fed, Gold standard, limit usery severely (working towards outlaw IMO).   I guess a follow up question would be is it necessary to make ideas like this popular in tandem with running someone who will do it?

We need better politicians, its a scary business these days.  There should be more incentive for strong individuals of tremendous integrity to join politics instead of business.  Not sure what can be done though the system is locked up pretty tight it seems like.  If this site grows though maybe it can help a few good people get elected.

It's honorable to offer to serve the public but not something me personally would be into.  Good luck its good to see people interested in making positive change.

Knew a few people who tried the social media presence approach - the youngest being a 20something kid out in Florida that had considerable social media success... not much physical community presence though... pretty sure he was just in it for the clicks because his policies were pretty standard cookie cutter newage conservative geeze yall really backing the "Trojan Horse" play like it isn't something that the degenerates in politics now aren't already telling themselves... so much for finding folks with integrity Algorithm pushed Dr. Shiva on Matt's podcast on my feed... it is sad that Americans blow past that community-building recommendation of just start by working with your neighbors and building community so quickly.