Looking at how swiftly and effectively the CCP is crushing the recent wave of protests over some of their more brutish COVID policies, I’m struck by how far the technology of oppression has progressed. In 1989 it was tanks and clubs in the grand communist tradition. In 2022, we see the utilization of a sophisticated “social credit” system, cops checking cell phones for VPN and outlawed social media platforms, and officials calling people to warn them off protesting based on algorithms, “Minority Report” style.

Compare that to the crude rape and murder tactics of Russia in Ukraine, and I think we are looking at the future of totalitarianism.