This week on Fourth Reich Archaeology, we take a brief hiatus from Jerryworld and travel back to the present day for a special episode on the 2024 election cycle.  

A true American spectacle, the sights and sounds of the 2024 campaign trail appear to have been inspired by the pomp and circumstance of modern professional wrestling. In fact, with a steady bombardment of character arcs, secret alliances, double-crosses, over-the-top walkout songs, cheesy catchphrases, and interludes from rappers and comedians to boot, you’ve been so busy being entertained this election cycle that you don’t even realize your favorite politician hasn’t said a lick about policy. While we otherwise may not know exactly what kind of terrible shit is going to come out of the mouths of our political leaders, you can always count on it being unhinged.  

But lest you think we are departing from our favorite object of study... to the contrary, we apply the artifacts we've unearthed in the first three episodes of Jerryworld to help make sense of the senselessness of the 2024 presidential election. Indeed, the life and times of Jerry Ford are as relevant as ever. Whereas Gerald Ford's eventual identity as a mere brand ambassador for the entrenched powers that be had a ring of tragedy to it, Kamala and Donald inhabit a world of hyper-farce, playing the role of carnival-barker for feuding (but ultimately compatible) factions of the ruling class. Moreover, while there are issues each nominee has championed for their respective financial backers, or to pacify or incite their faithful followers, the substance of their actual policy positions on the things that really matter don’t meaningfully differ. 

Like every election before it, 2024 will likely once again break the record for most expensive election ever. But in our view, money in politics nowadays isn't so much about swaying elections as inflating the spectacle of "democracy," generating viewership through the corporate media machine, and imposing hard limits on what is considered acceptable political discourse. Thus, to paraphrase our favorite Thomas Pynchon quote once again, the true election cycle is not the culmination of a democratic process but a celebration of markets. 

And to all our Jerry heads out there, don't fret—we will return to our regularly scheduled program next week with Jerryworld Episode 4.

Meanwhile, check out our Patreon, which we're finally rolling out. We won't paywall any content just yet, but we do invite and encourage you all to get in on the ground floor. The sooner we can quit our day-jobs, the more time we can pour into the pod, and the deeper we can dig into the hellscape of the Fourth Reich.

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Song List: 

Talking Heads – Once in a Lifetime

Bob Dylan – Masters of War

Metallica – For Whom the Bell Tolls 

Neutral Milk Hotel – Oh Comely

Trey Parker and Matt Stone - I’m a Little Bit Country 

David Bowie – Five Years 

Opening Clip is from Dr. Oblivion’s monologue in David Cronenberg’s Videodrome