> American conservatism has morphed into something completely decrepit over the last decade, and there is nothing unfair about platforms disproportionately moderating it into the ground

Your comment is the best evidence of the problem we are having. The messaging is so one-sided that you and others actually believe this and don't have a clear view of what is actually going on.

This is where the utter ignorance of Latin American history in the US is a great failure of our educational system.

Gloria Alvarez, a prominent Latin American Libertarian offers an excellent take on this history. This history represents a virtual time machine you can use to understand both what is going on today in the US as well as what not to do. Virtually everythign you see today in the US was tested multiple times in various ways in Latin America. The result: Utter destruction. Americans' ignorance of history has consequences.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xkYEXS16dZA

If you don't speak Spanish, turn on subtitles.

Populism, both on the right and left, has destroyed more nations than most can imagine.

What is populism? A simple example: Vote for me and I will cancel your student debt. Vote for me and I will give you free healthcare. Vote for me and I will take from them and give to you. Vote for me because you are all oppressed and I will fix it. Etc.

Populism exists both on the right and left. In the US, however, the vast majority of populist-based destruction comes from one ideological side. That's just a fact. And this, BTW, is the same side that has destroyed so many nations in Latin America.

The clue is simple: Look for favors or grants to large numbers of people in exchange for votes. Then go look at the net outcomes in those populations to see just how destructive it is.

Populism is a mechanism for psychological manipulation. This isn't new. Rome, among other things, fell to populism.

If you really want to understand the Latin American context here's an excellent intro, again, by Gloria Alvarez:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7WylR8EvhnE

One of the fundamental characteristics of destructive populism is to create division.

You have to create an enemy by vilifying "the other side", whatever or whoever that might be. Once you divide a population you can apply energy and drive them like sheep in whatever direction you need them to go. If you can convince one group the the other group are "complete sociopaths", you have them precisely where you want them and the rest is easy: repeat the message, pass Go, collect $200 and votes.

Today the internet allows for a great degree of granularity in crating division and hatred around a wide range of differentiating vectors. This makes control far simpler. Each group can be brought into resonance by feeding energy into a single topic. Simple, effective and powerful. And, again, used by both the left and the right to great effect.

The only way to mitigate this is to break the cycle of hatred and division by walking people out of the cave and give them an opportunity to see reality, rather than the shadows prepared for them.

Politically one-sided social media creates massive monoculture audiences that are easy to indoctrinate, manipulate and drive into hating everyone else. Repeat the same message over and over again and you can get people to believe anything.

People actually believe that everyone who isn't "them" are evil sociopaths. Job well done. The indoctrination machine works without a flaw.

What Musk wants to do with Twitter is to stop this platform being used for for this purpose. This isn't easy, it is going to be messy and it will take time. Yet, in the end, it is the only approach that will push society forward and limit the ability of populist political scum from attempting to divide and conquer.