Sounds like a Kristof joint if I ever heard one. 😒

I often wondered how pandemics might lead to deteriorating political and social conditions.

Now I know.

Pandemics are an opportunity for leaders to teach people to accept vast numbers of deaths… to burn out our connection with each other.

Sure, they will sometimes cause people to suffer and die out of sheer incompetence, but assuming they don't want to cause people to die gives them way too much credit. It's def part of the formula. They just may kill people they didn't mean to kill sometimes.

As ludicrous as this is, it shouldn't be taken lightly. In treating all porn like CSAM, he's talking about criminalizing possession of as little as a nude — on your phone, your hard drive, your bookshelf — and making it a felony.

Sexting would be criminal distribution. Police could raid your home.

This is basically also true in most states in the US. In many cases you can’t legally consent to your own “abuse” even if it’s not actually abuse and, in fact, consensual. Idk if that’s ever played out in court though.

One thing we can all do right now is to talk to friends and family who aren't paying attention, who aren't on Bluesky. Explain what is happening and why it presents a danger to them (not just to "democracy" or "rule of law"). Not easy conversations but important for public opinion.

His politics are contingent upon people being governed by bias and resentment, rather than any concern for their actual conditions.