This, perhaps more than anything else happening in politics, is a troubling sign— when people lose the ability to interpret stories beyond the surface level, they become very susceptible to propaganda. https://t.co/pm9I0UnOgA

— Matt Zoller Seitz (@mattzollerseitz) August 21, 2022

Most Gen Z and a lot of Millennials seem to have trouble with this. It was just taken as a given when I was young that because, for instance, Stephen King wrote about a clown murdering people didn’t mean he actually wanted to dress up as a clown and murder people.

But these days, tons of folks are convinced that Stephen King is definitely dressing up as a clown and going out slaughtering because he wrote about it once (or if not, that he supports clown murder sprees).

I cannot understand what these people are smoking.

I wonder what’s going to become of the PMC liberal ideology that it’s harassment to be attracted to someone, and that dating anyone you know in real life is immoral? Can it get worse?

I think it can. I expect chaperoned dates and much more restrictive clothing norms for women in the near future. And probably the age of majority for women (but not men) to be upped to ~30 eventually. It’ll be to the PMC libs “feminist.”

this cannot be shouted about too much https://t.co/yNFUukXYkK

— Faine Greenwood (@faineg) August 27, 2022

What’s even odder is a lot of people shouting about we can’t afford to have people not be in lifelong punishing debt simply for the crime of going to cllege themselves went to college for free or nearly free — like Kevin Drum and many, many others.

They’re counting on people not remembering even very recent history. And it’s working.