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Culture War Roundup for the week of December 11, 2023

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I think it is more likely a happy accident then a deliberate targeting, but it is hard to say for sure. There is much about what went on in March 2020 that is still very unclear to me. I think it is definitely possible it was more a general egregore that drove the shutdowns than any one specific thing (China is sometimes mentioned, though if so they were clearly drinking their own kool-aid rather than trying to sabotage anyone).

EDIT: I should say I'm referring to an "egregore" being responsible rather than directly the "state", as in my mind much of 2020 is better explained by some sort of social media/traditional media/political expediency/current thing/good 'ol fashioned hysterias then more concrete concepts such as "the state"