Yet one can already see the tide of slop rising on the horizon. As this slop becomes more ubiquitous (see any ad on Youtube these days) and a new generation comes of age consuming this digital gruel, they will come to see it as normal and even preferable to the "quaintness" of the old aesthetic.

Those used to a certain level of craftsmanship when it comes to the media sedatives they rely on to distract themselves from disturbing existential questions will naturally find the use of AI slop in the production of the spectacle to be outrageous.

Oh great. You know a bunch of existentialists are going to get caught up in this dragnet.

I don't think the Soviet example is all that instructive. Very different circumstances exist in the USSR of the late 1980s than the USA of the mid 2020s.

One might also look at the rise and fall of Napoleon in early nineteenth century France for another possible analogy.

As we all know, Caesar was assassinated, and after several more years of civil war, his nephew Octavius becomes the first Emperor of Rome, thus completing the transition from Republic to Empire.

In the face of these difficulties that unleash civil war and foreign threats, Julius Caesar, with the loyalty of his army fresh from their war in Gaul and considerable support among the masses, declares himself dictator and promises to restore the glory of Rome.

The historical example that most resonates with this moment is probably the transition in ancient Rome from republic to empire. It features a complex republic that has defeated all its rivals but cannot properly manage the costs and temptations of being a "global" empire.

Essential titles might include:

"On War" Karl von Clausewitz
"The Art of War" Sun Tzu
"On Guerilla Warfare" Mao Zedong
"Strategy" B.H. Lidell Hart
"Propaganda" Edward Bernays
"The Society of the Spectacle" Guy Debord
"Understanding Media" Marshall McLuhan

One of the first steps in any effort to accomplish this is to engage strategic thought and how it applies to a media-saturated world. This means reviewing the classic texts of strategy and fusing them with those who understood the dynamics of media, politics and society.

Media can now be thought of as weapons in Clausewitzian sense in that they are assets that allow you to disarm your opponent and force their submission. This means any resistance must build-up its own media assets to wage a narrative war akin to military forces waging a traditional war.