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</o:shapelayout></xml><![endif]--></head><body lang=EN-US link="#0563C1" vlink="#954F72" style='word-wrap:break-word'><div class=WordSection1><p class=MsoPlainText><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>> On Behalf Of Ben Zaiboc via extropy-chat<br>Subject: Re: [ExI] Inflation and the 2024 election</p><p class=MsoPlainText><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>On 17/10/2026 01:39, John K Clark wrote:<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>> >…Am I the only person on this list who had no idea who the hell Hasan Piker is? <o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>>…Of course not…I don't know why spike is picking him in particular to talk about, these kinds of provocateurs are a dime a dozen on the internet these days (e.g. 'Mr Beast', and his many imitators). Maybe he is just one of the noisier ones. Ben<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>-- <o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>Ben, Piker as a loudmouth nobody by those who do not hang around on TwitterX. He is a loudmouth somebody over there. I don’t follow Twitch, which is his main hangout, but he gets plenty of mentions on X, and plenty of followers there.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>2.9 million followers on Twitch, with one of the top 20 channels. <o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>He is not running for senate, but he is running the guy who is running for the senate:<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText><img width=347 height=354 style='width:3.6145in;height:3.6875in' id="Picture_x0020_1" src="cid:image001.jpg@01DD5E09.E75077F0"><o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='color:black'><a href="https://www.influencewatch.org/person/hasan-piker/">https://www.influencewatch.org/person/hasan-piker/</a><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='color:black'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='color:black'>His influence now has put several well-known paleo-Democrats in a position where they say if he stays, we go. Two prominent examples: Bill Maher and James Carville.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='color:black'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='color:black'>Piker is openly promoting European-style socialism. About half of the Democrat party wants nothing to do with that or with him. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='color:black'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='color:black'>My conclusion: Piker is ripping the Democrat party in half.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='color:black'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='color:black'>But more to the point here: several ExI posters have been baffled at why their party loses to an unpopular candidate. Implausible and insulting explanations are offered: half the US voters are mesmerized, stupid, corrupt, ignorant, war memes triggered, racist, etc. But none of those explanations are right. They support the unpopular guy because he is a socialism fighter.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='color:black'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='color:black'>spike<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='color:black'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='color:black'><o:p> </o:p></span></p></div></body></html>