The grid is fixed. The election happens. The neighbor faces no sanctions. The ludicrous proxy has succeeded. Is there a cure for the ludicrous? History offers a few uncomfortable answers.
A standard proxy is invisible. A plausible proxy is deniable. A ludicrous proxy, by contrast, is hyper-visible and indefensible . It is the equivalent of a bank robber wearing a nametag that reads "Definitely Not The Bank Robber." It is the official government statement that blames a cyberattack on "a rival nation’s 12-year-old intern." It is the legislative bill that, buried in a clause about agricultural subsidies, legalizes the sale of human organs. ludicrous proxy
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In 2022, a court in a small European country received "video evidence" of a political figure accepting a bribe. The video was later revealed to be a deepfake created by a rival faction. But here is the ludicrous twist: the rival faction admitted it was a deepfake, then argued that the deepfake was a "artistic commentary" protected by free speech. The court spent eighteen months debating the legality of the commentary. The original bribery case was forgotten. The grid is fixed
The philosopher Harry Frankfurt famously distinguished between bullshit (which disregards the truth) and lies (which deliberately oppose it). The ludicrous proxy belongs to a third category: . The gag does not care about truth or falsehood. It cares only about the disruption of normal processing. It is the banana peel on the floor of discourse. It does not need you to slip. It only needs you to look down. The ludicrous proxy has succeeded
Introduction: The Collapse of Plausible Deniability For most of modern history, power relied on a specific kind of deception: the plausible proxy . If a nation-state wanted to destabilize a neighbor, it funded a local insurgency. If a corporation wanted to bury a report on pollution, it commissioned a "skeptical scientist." If a political campaign wanted to smear an opponent, it leaked an unattributed whisper to a friendly journalist. The proxy was effective precisely because it was reasonable . It could be denied, but it could also be believed.
A militia group stages a mock execution of a politician using a mannequin and posts it online. When asked, they claim it was "performance art." The media debates whether it was a threat or satire. In that gray zone, the militia wins. They have communicated their intent without consequence.