Isn’t it just a sad sign of the times that advocating for freedom, autonomy and privacy make you some kind of crazy person now? I’m old enough to remember when the world was less insane. Less divided. With no mass surveillance. People kept their politics to themselves… and social media didn’t exist.

Young people like to go on and on about how “people were so bigoted, etc. etc.” but they’ve got no idea. They weren’t alive to experience it (or were too young to remember anything.) I’m sure I’ll get a few replies to this comment telling me I’m wrong. Yeah, bigotry existed, but it was confined to smaller circles. These days, hatred of all sorts spreads rapidly over the internet, and in my own experience, the world has never felt so angry and stressed, despite all the ‘efforts’ in recent years by activists to fight it (unsuccessfully and often using harmful tactics themselves.)

I’m not sure where the world is heading, but based on the last decade, it’s looking like my decision to move out into a remote country area and simplify my life was the right choice. The world’s gone fucking crazy, and gen z’s apathy with regards to politics, privacy and apparent love of authoritarianism actually terrifies me. They have no idea what they’re advocating for, and everyone will suffer if they don’t step back and reel in their puritan bullshit.