Or take Covid. Why has the entire GOP radicalized against figures like Tony Fauci and behind RFK's nutty ideas about the "dangers" of the Covid vaccine? Because they don't trust the institutions we've developed as a modern society to generate actionable truths. This is beyond irresponsible.

Their vision of "freedom" is a world without democratic institutions like journalism, universities, federal agencies, public schools, courts that enforce the rule of law equally. They see these institutions as tyrannical, but they are not. They are barriers to THEIR tyrannical aspirations.

Agreed, but in making this point, I add that there are historical events that lend a certain gravity to some of the claims. For example, is all pharma bad? Obv not, but has the industry as a whole done enough shitty things and come to its bad reputation earnestly? Fuck yeah. Specificity matters.

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