During the first season of the HBO series True Detective, Matthew McConaughey’s dark, brooding, philosophical character, Rust Cohle, discusses his theory of time in a famous scene that has since become an internet meme. “Time,” he says, “is a flat circle. Everything we’ve ever done or will do, we’re gonna do over and over and over again.” Cohle is a Louisiana state detective investigating a string of gruesome murders connected to some kind of cult, but the case has gone cold, with the real killer still on the loose. Scarred by the trauma of losing his own child years ago, and worn down by heavy drinking, Cohle says that “nothing ever gets solved” and that life is an absurd, inescapable loop. His character is monstrously pessimistic, if you couldn’t tell.
But if there was any sentiment that could best capture how normal Americans today feel about politics — particularly how they feel about it one month out from a midterm or presidential election that determines the balance of power in Washington, D.C. — it is fair to say that Rust Cohle’s pessimism captures it to a tee. Over and over and over again, Americans elect politicians because they say one thing and that one thing sounds good (maybe too good). But the moment candidates assume office, they, for whatever reason, either quietly renege on this promise or flagrantly betray it. Usually, donors or special interest groups are involved, pulling invisible strings behind the scenes. Sometimes, as is well known, candidates just lie straight through their teeth.
Software developer, media executive, and co-founder of Black Rifle Coffee, Richard Ryan, has an explanation for why politicians can get Americans “so angry, upset, and motivated to get out and vote” every single time, but then three months later, break virtually every campaign promise they made on the trail. Sure, maybe time is a flat circle. Or maybe it’s that “talk is cheap,” Ryan says.
In an exclusive interview with the Daily Caller, Ryan breaks down how political campaigns exploit social media algorithms, whipping Americans into a polarized “frenzy,” and how this endless dynamic plays into the hands of special interest groups while allowing politicians to keep winning re-election despite glaring failures. He is also bringing a unique solution to the table. He wants to make politicians pay. Literally.