These are weird times, and from a democratic and civil liberty point of view a bit alarming. Where I live, we've had
a botched election. New York's Democratic officials seem to be
actively trying to still damage Bernie Sanders even though he already dropped out of the presidential race. We have tech companies
playing censor, presumably to curry favor with the government officials who regulate them (contrast that with the early hope of the Internet to allow for a flowering of free speech and minority viewpoints, even bigger than the print zines in the picture above). Most of the country is still under house arrest, even though I just checked
the Constitution and there's no freedom from assembly, only the freedom to assemble, meaning that regardless of what's happening or the justification given by politicians, human rights don't get postponed or cancelled. With luck, the current panic will die down, but people will need to start exercising their rights, or there will be some lasting damage to civil society as a whole and us as individuals. Maybe the notion that Americans were much made of sterner stuff is a historical fantasy, but it seems as if centuries old Enlightenment values are eroding under mountains of cash and stupidity.
Thankfully, a federal judge smacked the party bosses' knuckles and Bernie and the others are back on the ballot in New York: https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/496276-judge-orders-sanders-others-to-be-reinstated-to-new-york-primary-ballot May democracy and free speech continue to grow!
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