Andrew Tate and the Art of Selling

Everybody is selling something

Like most people, I am turned off by the stereotypical salesman personality. Saleswomen, too, although they are easier to tolerate if attractive enough. I know, I’m superficial. I’m not sure about transgender salespersons and their pronouns. But there is bound to be a receptive market for them in this crazed “Woke” society.

I was inspired to write this while thinking about Andrew Tate. I don’t really know why Tate is famous, much as I don’t know why most people who are famous are. I think he was, perhaps still is, some kind of professional kickboxer. At first glance, what he says makes some sense and is appealing, especially to emasculated, testosterone needy White males. Tate comes off as a White Nationalist, which is odd since he is half Black. Well, I guess if a Hispanic can lead the White Supremacist Proud Boys, anything is possible in America 2.0. Tate has come to rule the “Manosphere,” an online culture that revels in, and seeks to restore, the Patriarchy. From what I can determine, Tate wasn’t that successful of a fighter, but he rose to notoriety somehow. That’s one of the thoughts that nag at me the most; how so many celebrities become celebrities. And Tate is a perfect example of that.

Much of the alt media has embraced Tate. Candace Owens, for example, who is usually very sensible in my view, seems to adore him. Donald Trump’s latest hot but dubious lawyer, Alina Habba, was absolutely giddy over meeting Tate on a January podcast, gushing, “I’m a big fan!” Tate and his brother Tristan are currently wanted for rape and human trafficking in Romania, which has long been a hotbed of exploited women and underage girls. Along with his often astute politically incorrect public comments, Tate has been recorded as giving out demented advice to other males on how to get and “control” women. There is video of him describing how he has himself, and advises others to, choke and physically beat females to get them to “obey.” Perhaps more chillingly, he suggested doing this to stop them from leaving. More properly described as escaping. Tate is a misogynist if ever there was one.

But first and foremost, Andrew Tate is a pimp. Now, his half Black status qualifies him for this position. All pimps in real life are Black. Sorry, Hollywood, no one is buying your ridiculous caricatures of White skinhead pimps, any more than they buy your fantasies about White carjackers and Russian gangs oddly mimicking James Cagney-style lingo while ruling the streets of our big cities. So, the many conservatives who are supporting, even worshiping, Andrew Tate, are supporting and worshiping a self-proclaimed pimp. A White Nationalist with a Black daddy. And not just any Black daddy. We are told that Tate’s father was an international chess master. That’s right out of central casting. For all I know, maybe they also claim his White mother beat her Black husband, causing little Andrew to resent all women. The whole Tate phenomenon seems scripted. Someone or something “installed” him.

Now if you listen to Tate speak, in his unique accent that again sounds like it was developed on a Hollywood backstage, you get the idea that he’s selling something. I mean, he’s about as subtle as a used car salesman at the end of the month, struggling to meet his quota. Now what he’s selling isn’t exactly clear. Toxic masculinity? Bullying? Psychopathology? His aggressive, confrontational personality would work well in any sales industry. Insurance. Retail sales. And my own field of real estate. The top realtors are usually bullies. They know how to “close,” which translates into browbeating someone into making a decision. I would have sold a lot more properties if I knew how to “close” without being a bully. I just don’t know how to do that. But those that do somehow get good people to respect them while turning on the pressure. I’m positive Andrew Tate would be tremendous at applying pressure.

It often strikes me that we’re all selling something. Or we’re being sold. We’re buying or selling. Not products, but human beings. The worst of the lot, perhaps including Tate and certainly including powerful people all over the world, literally sell humans. Often children. For sex. Now someone has to buy these trafficked victims, but like the celebrities on Epstein’s forever unattainable official list, they remain unknown. I’ve had Cathy O’Brien and other trafficking victims on my podcast. O’Brien talked about Dick Cheney being among the notables who played an indescribably murderous version of “The Most Dangerous Game” with her and other child victims. For those not familiar with the story or film, it revolved around an eccentric man on a remote island who hunted humans. According to O’Brien, Dick Cheney hunted children. But he and his lovely daughter Liz criticize Trump, so millions simply shrug.

Our current president certainly is a salesman, selling everything from MAGA hats to Bibles. And plenty of people buy what he sells. No one sells a political agenda like Donald Trump. In his recent address to Congress, Trump did what he always does; brag incessantly about real and imagined accomplishments. Like a realtor claiming to be the “best” or the “top” agent in a given area, Trump makes sweeping claims that cannot be proven, or are contradicted by the evidence. He has said that we had the “strongest” border in history during his first term. In reality, he deported fewer illegals than Obama. Now he has extended that to say that during his first term, “we had the strongest economy this country has ever seen.” Now, it was certainly better than it became under Biden, but the strongest ever? In the 1950s-1970s, every job paid a living wage, and workers received regular raises, and chances for promotion. I’ll take that any day over the present rigged system, with its wealth disparity and cheap labor.

Trump has essentially “sold” his MAGA rhetoric to millions. He reaffirmed his commitment to free speech during that recent address to Congress. Now the Democrats, being philosophically opposed to free speech, were hardly going to applaud that. Not that they applauded anything from Trump, even the forlorn figures he trotted out to tug at our heartstrings during his speech. Conservative virtue signaling. But a few days after he declared how much he cherished free speech, Trump issued a statement on Truth Social, threatening to arrest and deport anyone on college campuses engaging in “illegal protests.” Because the Bill of Rights protects the right to peaceful assembly, there is no such thing as an “illegal” protest. Trump should know that better than anybody, given what happened to those protesting in his name on January 6, 2021. Translation; Trump will brook no criticism of Israel.

The “Woke” Democrats, on the other hand, are selling their own wares. They’re selling perpetual victimhood status. Be a survivor of anything from breast cancer to crack addiction. Sell it! If you’re Black, you’ve got a full arsenal. The nuclear weapon of virtue signaling; “racism.” No matter how rich and successful you are, claim that you’re still being held down. It pays to be a victim of “White Supremacy,” as all the unqualified Black figures on television prove so demonstrably. If you’re transgender, you are in a special class. They’re like multi-million dollar sales agents. And you can virtue signal while not even really “transitioning.” Ask “Lia” Thomas, breaking every women’s swim record imaginable with “her” penis tucked inside “her” swim trunks. In reality, the cultural overlords are selling sheer lunacy. And with the closing of so many mental health facilities, there are plenty of buyers.

Remember how, on Pee Wee’s Playhouse, there would be a running gag where a salesman would ring the doorbell, and Pee Wee Herman would scream in horror? That reflects how most people view sales figures, especially those trying to sell something door to door. I experienced the entire “pyramid” sales world years ago. I remember when Amway first entered the scene, and I went to several meetings, where pushy and confident sales personalities would brag about how successful they’d become. I tried A.L. Williams for a while, which was the insurance industry’s version of Amway, and even Herbalife, which I was naturally drawn to given my long time affinity for vitamins and natural supplements. It really disillusioned me when the founder of Herbalife, who was about my age, suddenly died. That’s really bad publicity for a group using a pyramid scheme to sell healthy products.

The basement of the sales world are those hapless telephone marketers. The ones who are told by their bosses that if they cold call 100 people, they should be able to make one sale. I don’t know anyone who has ever been receptive to cold calls like that, and bought whatever was being sold. Especially now, given that almost all the calls are from reps with thick Indian accents named Kyle. It doesn’t matter what they’re selling, no one is going to listen to their scripted pitch. When I started out as a realtor, my office advertised these incredibly cheap townhouses, but never listed the city, because they were close to a notorious prison. They generated most of the calls to the office, and we were instructed to answer, once the caller asked the logical question about the specific location, by saying that it was five miles south of a particular highway. I felt really stupid and dishonest doing this, and always broke the rule and disclosed the city. Have I mentioned that I’m not a great “closer?”

Almost everyone in the alt media, who has a large audience, sells things. They create online stores. Mostly vitamins, storable food, hats, shirts, etc. A number of these “influencers” are selling fear porn, just like the mainstream hacks on the Weather Channel. Dire predictions of doom. Be prepared! Many have a pay wall, where they use Patreon and other applications to offer paid subscribers additional content. To be fair, non alt media Fox News is hawking a pay channel- Fox Nation- where you can find things not on their regular network. Prostitutes have become respectable “sex workers” now, thanks to that ridiculous film somehow winning the best picture Oscar. Isn’t prostitution still illegal everywhere except for Nevada? Maybe there is a different legal standard for “sex workers?” Legal or not, “sex workers” are selling the oldest commodity in the history of civilization. One that’s always sold well.

Now we have online personalities, whether they are right-wing “influencers,” or young Tik Tok girls with no discernable talent, selling their personas. Not sure what they can possibly sell, beyond their looks. The most ambitious of these girls have created Only Fans accounts, where I guess lonely incels pay money to talk to them, or perhaps enjoy a flash of skin. Sounds easier than “sex work.” I have remarked before, with obvious frustration, about all the YouTubers who have hundreds of thousands, even millions, of subscribers, while providing “content” that is really nothing special. The same goes for all the people on Twitter/X with 50,000, 100,000, or a million followers. Who tweet the same kind of stuff I do, with far fewer subscribers. I know there’s a way to buy subscribers and followers, but do they all really do that? If you’ve watched Lex Friedman- Mr. Excitement- you know what I’m talking about. Maybe I’m just envious. It’s a capitalism thing, you wouldn’t understand.

Young men and women are selling themselves on dating apps. They used to sell themselves in person, at bars and parties, but I guess that’s rare now in America 2.0. And just like salespeople of all sorts use deceptive practices (like some despicable “investment counselor” creature that cheated me out of $8,000 from my retirement account), females especially on these dating sites are renowned for using old photos. When they weighed significantly less. Buyer beware, I suppose. Proud parents are invariably “selling” the abilities of their children, to coaches, relatives, and especially other parents. I bragged about my children as well. It’s natural. But it is a kind of sales pitch. To convince doubting family members that your child is an exceptional student. Or athlete. Or dancer. Or exceptionally attractive to the opposite sex. I don’t know, some Tik Tok mothers now probably “sell” how well their child is “transitioning.”

I always hated it when people used to ask me, at parties, or school functions, “so what do you do?” This is the standard opening for people to “sell” just what it is they “do.” I always answered “I’m a writer,” even though I hadn’t been published yet. And that was true. I have always been a writer. It’s what I am. I just never made any money at it for a long time, and make what amounts to a McDonald’s salary now doing it. Some people love to embellish their financial worth, to make you think they earn much more money than they do. Men especially love to “sell” you on how successful they are. This is particularly true if they suspect you may possibly be successful yourself. When I was really young, I told them I worked a hard physical labor job, pulling around 1,000 linen carts in the basement of a hospital. That usually ended the conversation. It’s no fun bragging, or wildly exaggerating, to a poor guy with a job like that.

Now you’re probably saying, hey, wait a minute, Mr. champion of the common man, aren’t you selling books? Don’t you hope for more paid subscriptions here on Substack? Aren’t you in effect “selling” your world view with everything you write? You’d be right, of course. I guess it’s hard to be alive without engaging in selling something, to someone. I once tried, mostly unsuccessfully, to “sell” small talk to attractive female strangers. Yeah, I probably even said “you have any fries to go with that shake?” a time or two. That was long ago, when such absurd lines weren’t a ticket to cancellation. Now, I am indeed selling myself as a writer and talker. But you’ll never see me badger anyone to buy anything I’m selling. If you’re reading this, then you’re interested at least to some degree in what I have to say.

“Everybody’s in show biz,” the Kinks once sang. I believe that everybody’s selling something. The Medical Industrial Complex is selling “healthcare,” and doctors sell tests, surgery and Big Pharma drugs. Casinos, the lottery, sports gambling, bingo- they’re all selling the notion that those who are living paycheck to paycheck- over 70 percent of the workforce- can make money quickly and easily, without having an ungrateful employer. The entertainment business sells you a world that is opposite to reality; with mixed race couples, kindly Black geniuses, powerful female fighters, and soft, pathetic White males who are subservient to all. The corporate world sells you a variety of subpar products at inflated prices. As one proud manager once told me, when I complained about a product, “What do you expect at that price?” I snappily shot back, “Well, I expected it to at least work!”

I recently tried to put out a special promotion, a discount price for new paid Substack subscribers. So there I am, selling. I’m not sure I did it right. You may have gotten an email, or you may see a message along with this article. I still work at navigating through these things. I guess it would be suitably ironic if such a promotional message showed up on an article like this. Hey, I’m no “closer.” Look at the photo of Andrew Tate. That’s a “closer” for you. The familiar triangle with the hands. Just like Trump. And Elon Musk. And countless other celebrated figures, who do it instinctively, when they’re not flashing other satanic-type gestures. They’re advertising their allegiance. They’ve been sold themselves. They’re just letting you know. I think they’re required to do that. Why else would they go through the trouble of posing with their fingers circling around one eye, or make similar unnatural motions with their hands? That’s not just a sales pitch. It’s a job.

There are no guarantees here. Most warranties are worthless, as dishonest as everything else that is sold. When half of all marriages end in divorce, the vows sold to each other become dubious. You could be stabbed in the back any time, by a lover, a close friend, or a loving family member. And you never see it coming. As my dear mother used to say, it’s a cold, cruel world. A cold, cruel world full of competing salespersons. Trying to sell to each other. Trying to be a “closer.” And as with all things in life, a small minority will be outstanding at sales. For no discernable reason. You won’t like what they’re selling, but you’ll buy. A small minority will suffer because they can’t sell anything. And the rest will meander about, making ends meet with sporadic sales. Everyone probably does have their price. And some will literally make a deal with the devil, thinking they’re gaining the world, but losing their soul.