The “levels of mazedom” is an interesting insight. The cleanest examples I can see are in politics:
Level 1: “Policy X is good. I will try and persuade people to implement policy X, or get elected to do it.”
Level 2: “I want to get elected. Policy Y is seen as good. I will advocate policy Y and implement it.”
Level 3: “I want to get elected. My supporters don’t actually think that policy Z is good or even possible, but advocating for it sends a signal that will help me win.” [eg. ‘… and Mexico will pay for it.’]
Level 4: “I want to get elected. I will set a theme—a feeling for my campaign. I will avoid specifics of actual policies to avoid alienating people who might disagree with them.”
The “levels of mazedom” is an interesting insight. The cleanest examples I can see are in politics:
Level 1: “Policy X is good. I will try and persuade people to implement policy X, or get elected to do it.”
Level 2: “I want to get elected. Policy Y is seen as good. I will advocate policy Y and implement it.”
Level 3: “I want to get elected. My supporters don’t actually think that policy Z is good or even possible, but advocating for it sends a signal that will help me win.” [eg. ‘… and Mexico will pay for it.’]
Level 4: “I want to get elected. I will set a theme—a feeling for my campaign. I will avoid specifics of actual policies to avoid alienating people who might disagree with them.”
These seem more like (good) examples of Simulacrum Levels rather than mazedom levels.
You are right, probably closer to simulacrum. Although the two do overlap.