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Stephen L. Miller
@redsteeze
Everything you need to know about our media is summed up in these Olympics.
Journalists grill American athletes about a "rising fascism" in the United States.
Meanwhile an American who takes millions of dollars to ski for an actual authoritarian communist dictatorship with concentration camps and zero free speech is treated like a beautified celebrity.
This is who our media is.
https://x.com/redsteeze/status/2022884446035488823
There's a reason that major media outlets and luxury brands all fawn over Eileen Gu. It's the quintessential Davos mindset in action.
What conservatives view as traitorous, they frame as the shrewd moves of a savvy entrepreneur who is maximizing her marketability and global appeal. To them, she is a trailblazing icon.
Her case reinforces the transactional ethos of neoliberal globalism: that all people, cultures, and allegiances are fluid, unbound by borders or heritage. Davos Man prioritizes economic opportunities, and universal values like individualism or multiculturalism above ALL else.
Western brands like Tiffany & Co., Louis Vuitton, IWC Schaffhausen, Victoria's Secret, Estée Lauder, Red Bull, and Porsche absolutely LOVE and endorse her because they know that a world of post-national fluidity only favors their bottom line.
They're banking on her appeal to China's 1 billion consumers and massive social media influence. Market access is everything to them, to hell with gratitude or obligations.
These companies saw spikes in engagement and sales tied to her Olympic success. Tiffany's campaigns with Gu drew millions of views, and Anta Sports' shares rose 67% during her rise.
The only way this calculus changes is if her perceived disloyalty generates such negative PR that she loses brand value. That's the only language they understand.
Otherwise, we will keep churning out Eileen Gus who rise to the top of their industries whilst having it both ways - enjoying American freedoms while aligning with authoritarian enemy regimes for gain, as media and brands enable it.
This is ultimately a fundamental disagreement over how we should conceive of nationhood and citizenship. Nations are not just markets; identities are not just capital; citizens are not just fungible global assets.
The people who don't get this are also the ones who have no conception of the visceral, covenantal bonds of shared history, sacrifice and sovereignty. Sadly, international organizations, multinational corporations and media conglomerates all agree with them.
https://x.com/MsMelChen/status/2022870512930640303