Meme Wars



The Meme Wars were an event, spanning March 2016 to November 8, 2016, wherein the Capitalist Army, led by Adolf Ghostler, went up against the forces of the Democratic Party to elect Donald Trump as 45th President of the United States of America. The Meme Wars are the second major conflict that Ghost has participated in, the first being the Vietnam War.

The Meme Wars ended in a decisive victory for the Capitalist Army when Donald Trump was elected President of the United States in November 2016.

Pre-history
Prior to the Meme Wars, Ghost had covered the two previous Presidential elections, dedicating airtime on True Conservative Radio to his distrust for John "Turncoat" McCain and expressing his endorsement for Herman "Sugar" Cain during many 2011-2012 episodes of True Capitalist Radio. This sparked speculation that Ghost might make a return to broadcasting for the 2016 election, even though he was still in the midst of his infamous five-year absence during the election's earliest debates.

2016 Presidential Election
Ghost placed an unprecedented importance on the 2016 Presidential Election due to the "Capitalist Revolution" which he claimed was embodied by the businessman and noteworthy anti-bureaucrat candidate Donald Trump. Ghost's Emergency Broadcast and eventual full-fledged return to regular episodes of True Capitalist Radio with Capitalist Episode 227 centered on Ghost using his own sphere of influence to inform his listeners and sway the populace to vote for Trump.

As Ghost collaborated with other Trump supporters within his own circle and elsewhere, he adopted the term "Meme Wars" to refer to the events of the election, in reference to the tactics used by the pro-Trump side: information campaigns, culture jamming and psyops utilizing memes to spread the good word of Trump. Ghost described the 2016 election as "the first time in world history when the internet has influenced the electorate".

Bemoaning the lack of leadership in the Meme Wars, Ghost declared himself the leader in Capitalist Episode 372, embracing the moniker "Ghostler" and rolling out a new avatar to represent his ascension to the throne of the Trump Train. The catchphrases "HAIL GHOSTLER!" and "HAIL THE GHOSTLER YOUTH!" were commonly used by Ghost during the Meme Wars to spur the Capitalist Army into action.

Notable victories won by the Capitalist Army during the Meme Wars include informing the populace about Ted Cruz's sexual liaisons, spreading the word of Donald Trump via The Chalkening, discrediting Hillary Rotten Clinton with Operation: Barrel Roll and spreading awareness of Pizzagate. Notably, Ghost is quick to attribute these and other victories scored by the Trump voterbase entirely to his Capitalist Army alone, even though many of these movements were spearheaded by other forces within the alt-right such as /pol/ (with Ghost, TCR and its listeners acting merely as a single cog in a greater pro-Trump machine). It is unknown if Ghost is deliberately overstating his own influence or is genuinely unaware of channels other than his own show where alt-rightists discussed subjects such as Pizzagate, although the former assumption jibes with Ghost's other delusions of grandeur such as his recurring claim that "tens of thousands of people" listen to his show.

Ultimately, the Meme Wars ended in victory for Ghostler and the Capitalist Army when Trump was elected President on November 8, 2016. Ghost held a special broadcast covering the election in real-time and a subsequent celebratory broadcast the following day.

Around this time, Ghost began selling merchandise commemorating the Meme Wars (see picture), stating repeatedly "IT'S A RELIC OF THE MEME WARS!".

Influence on Ghost
The Meme Wars coincided with an unusually productive year for True Capitalist Radio. While trolling was as abundant as ever, the election hype led to a disproportionate number of Serious Callers who would call in to the show to agree with Ghost or debate him. Episodes of True Capitalist Radio were discussed regularly on /pol/ and other political forums, exposing the show to new listeners with a genuine interest in politics.

In particular, the revelation that he could use his influence to induce political change left a profound impact on Ghost. Even prior trolls buried the hatchet with Ghost to join in on the effort to get Trump elected, as shown when the once-nefarious Tub Guy suggested the idea for The Chalkening.

Having returned to his show for the express purpose of getting Trump into office, Ghost threatened to end True Capitalist Radio if Hillary won the election, as the show would serve no purpose without a unified Trump voter base to enact political change. By continuing the show, Ghost seems to have believed he could continue using his influence to inform his listeners and advocate for their new leader well into the Trump administration. Unfortunately, this turned out not to be the case.

Aftermath


In the months following Trump's victory and eventual inauguration as President, the hype that had followed him throughout the election among TCR listeners and others began to die down. Serious callers tapered off as trolling continued in full force, giving Ghost a sense of disillusionment with his fellow Trump supporters. He was especially disappointed by the number of Trump voters and alt-rightists who lost interest in politics and went back to their previous interests after the election was won, fueling Ghost's paranoia over anime due to its popularity with the alt-right. Throughout April and early May 2017, long-winded rants about how anime and cartoon fetishism among adults is destroying American society became an increasingly common topic on the show.

Ghost also expressed contempt for Trump voters among the libertarian right, alt-right and especially white nationalists who criticized Trump during his first 100 days in office, accusing them of dividing the supporter base. Ghost delivered a lengthy tirade in Saturday Night Show Episode 9 directed at "disloyal" Trump supporters for criticizing President Trump's decision to bomb an Assad base in Syria, and especially at white nationalists for their perceived ignorance about international politics.

Ultimately, Ghost decided to take a break from producing the True Capitalist Radio broadcast on May 8, 2017. Although fans have speculated that behind-the-scenes drama may have contributed to the decision to take a break, Ghost wrote multiple editorials (archives here and here) attributing the decision to the lack of unity in the Trump voter base as TCR listeners returned to their trolling and anime-watching ways, and his own disillusionment with being unable to enact serious political change as he had done in the Meme Wars.