The Authenticity of Fraud: The Yale Hillbilly + The Classless Aristocrat

https://discord.gg/EGFRjwwS92

Join Malcolm and Simone Collins as they dive deep into the fascinating dynamics of Trump's VP pick, JD Vance, and what it means for the future of conservative politics. This thought-provoking discussion explores the concept of "identity laundering," the evolution of American cultural groups, and how authenticity is perceived in modern politics. The Collins couple offers unique insights into the shifting alliances within the Republican party and the rise of tech elites in conservative circles.

Key points covered:

* The concept of "identity laundering" in politics

* JD Vance's journey from hillbilly to venture capitalist to conservative icon

* The evolution of Trump's political identity

* The alliance between tech elites and rural conservatives

* The influence of Scots-Irish culture on American politics

* The shift in conservative elite culture

* The potential impact on the 2024 election

Whether you're a political junkie, a student of American culture, or simply interested in understanding the complex dynamics of modern conservatism, this video offers valuable insights into the changing face of American politics.

Malcolm Collins: [00:00:00] Both J. D. Vance and Trump. represent a form of identity laundering and fraudulence that is extremely authentic and trustworthy. It builds trust. he grew up an actual hillbilly. Then he found out that to achieve the things that society told him were valuable, he had to adopt another identity.

He's a Princeton venture capitalist, right?

Simone Collins: Yeah.

Malcolm Collins: Your true self is who you choose to be, how you choose to see the world. Yeah, he is not somebody who accidentally became who he is.

He became who he is because he had a goal, I want to be X type of person now, and he has transformed himself

Simone Collins: all culture is a LARP. I think this ties into that. And I think you're much more authentic when you're LARPing culture than when you're just defaulting into whatever culture surrounds you because [00:01:00] you have consciously chosen it.

Therefore, you own it.

Would you like to know more?

Malcolm Collins: Hello, Simone! I am so excited to be talking to you today! We had done an episode on J. D. Vance that actually went live today, and I was, as Trump's VP pick and the writer of Hillbilly Eulogy.

Simone Collins: Eulogy. L and G.

Malcolm Collins: I'm always going to get that wrong.

Effigy is, I'm always going to say, don't say effigy. Anyway I, there was a really interesting discussion on the discord about the episode. And I'll put the interesting topic on the discord here so people can get these types of comments in real time as they're coming up. But it made me realize that this pic was fascinating.

From so many perspectives that I want to dive into, like the psychology of this pick and the psychology that's represented in Trump now having as his running mate, I think the personification of the never Trump movement. And what that [00:02:00] means for the shift that we've had culturally speaking. Both J. D. Vance and Trump. represent a form of identity laundering and fraudulence that is extremely authentic and trustworthy. It builds trust.

Simone Collins: Yeah.

Malcolm Collins: And so do you want to talk about this?

Because you were the one who first notices.

Simone Collins: Yeah. So there are particular brands and personalities. I think are comforting and trustworthy in the same way that franchises are trustworthy. And I'll explain why. So I'd said earlier that it was very fitting to me and I found it very pleasing that Trump is like the poor man's caricature of a rich man.

In yesterday's conversation how Trump is he frames himself as this very like classy, successful businessman. Whereas like your typical, like WASPy wealthy person in the U S would seem as pretty trashy.

And on the flip side, you have this [00:03:00] man who's branded himself as a hillbilly and a man of people who nevertheless, after coming out of the Marines, went to Yale law school, worked in venture capital, worked with the tech that we, it's totally not like the hillbilly. And yet we see them as being.

Probably more authentic when you actually come down to it than, like your average normal politician who's playing by the politician template of I'm authentic. This is me. And I'm basic. And I think a lot of what's going on there is they've both adopted characters that are predictable and in that way, trustworthy.

You don't have to like someone to trust them. You have to feel like you can model and predict them. That's it.

Malcolm Collins: I think it's more than that. So I think JD Vance is a bit easier to study this from than Trump, right? So JD Vance grew up like an actual hillbilly. So you read his book. Can you talk to some of the stories in

Simone Collins: it?

Yeah. I think, yeah, this is important that. People recognize it. He was mostly raised by his grandmother who he called Meemaw, and she really is this caricature as [00:04:00] well. This is like the classic Scots Irish back country, American. There was this one family story where apparently Meemaw said to.

her husband that if she came home, if he came home drunk again, she would kill him. And lo and behold, one day he comes home, drink, of course, like one day he comes home drunk, passes out on the couch and she, he wrote in his book actually, that she poured gasoline on him. The family actually quibble that no, it was probably lighter fluid, but that was the only thing, some context but yeah, and lit him on fire.

And it was actually JV's, I think, aunt, one of the, one of the daughters who, took pity upon this man and saved his life. But this is a woman

Malcolm Collins: who does not f**k around. This is very backcountry uh, value systems. Like, you, you know, You set boundaries and then you enforce them with, Violence.

Yeah, but I,

Simone Collins: and I think this is, the way that, people are like JD Vance is [00:05:00] not really a hillbilly. But he was raised in that kind of culture and environment and also people are like, yeah Trump's not really like a classy, wealthy businessman.

He was raised really wealthy. Like it, the way in which these people are frauds are like, not exactly the stereotypes that you're playing, that's playing topic I wanna get into, or nuance I wanna make here around fraudulence,

Malcolm Collins: which is to say he grew up an actual hillbilly. Then he found out that to achieve the things that society told him were valuable, he had to adopt another identity.

He's a Princeton venture capitalist, right? And he fit in with this new identity community that he was representing when he was writing Hillbilly elegy. He. Was writing it to explain how could anyone ever vote for Trump, which was genuinely something that was in his community.

People were asking, and he at the time was motivated to believe I could never do something like this. I would [00:06:00] never do something like this. Not the person I am today, but then he thought the environment I grew up in, I can model them. I can begin to see how they might

Simone Collins: do certain

Malcolm Collins: things or why they might do certain things.

And then he did something that a lot of people do at different points of their life, which is he was modeling this other community, this community he originally came from, and either