All the media/activists who are so infuriated by this can’t seem to specify how exactly they foresee their Twitter user experience being changed under Musk’s ownership. Presumably, they’ll still be able to follow or not follow whomever they choose, block and mute at will, etc. So what’s the problem? Well, the problem should be obvious, and almost doesn’t even need articulating: they will no longer be able to coerce Twitter’s management to accede to their demands.
Repeat after me: Keep our community safe. Keep our campus safe. We will be safe if you all behave safely. Safety is our first priority. If you’re not with us, you’re with the virus. Still today, at places like Princeton, grievances can often only be aired in private about the constant dreary pronouncements from official authorities purporting to be so very concerned for your health and safety, yadda yadda yadda.
Given the vast interlocking patchwork of governmental jurisdictions in the US, only the most discerning citizens would have the faintest clue that these official “Emergencies” are not only still on the books, but are still being invoked to authorize aggressive state action.
Elected officials and ordinary citizens alike in both countries have been puzzling over the strange fact that Canadians were legally permitted to fly into the US via commercial aircraft — after having gone to a crowded airport and inhaling whatever particles happened to be in circulation — but barred from driving over the border alone in their private cars.
The discretionary powers granted to state authorities to curtail the spread of the virus have yet to be fully documented or interrogated. Did these tactics accomplish anything that benefitted public health? Particularly with a year and a half of hindsight, it’s doubtful. Unless “needlessly hassling a bunch of people” somehow counts as a public health triumph.
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