TikTok: Godot, Absurd Politics, and Knaves

The TikTok saga, a convoluted narrative that seems plucked from the realm of absurdist theater, is set to unfold further. My latest piece, featured in the Spring issue of Regulation, chronicles the events leading up to late January. You can read the article online in either HTML or PDF format. Here’s a brief summary of this absurd affair:

Picture a play reminiscent of Samuel Beckett or Eugène Ionesco. A Republican president declares a popular app a national security threat, but his efforts to ban it falter. Then, a Democratic president and Congress successfully enact a ban, leading the app to vanish from American screens. Fast forward: this same Republican president returns to power and, perhaps in an illegal twist, rescues the app, seeing a political advantage in its existence.

The sequence of events is almost surreal. I tracked the developments meticulously, leading to a point where Godot, the elusive figure, seems to have finally arrived:

Unlike Beckett’s play, where Godot is perpetually absent, it appears he just might show up—though the final act is still to play out in a theater near you by April 5.

Additionally, I present a fundamental public-choice perspective on this saga:

It is essential to recognize that while those in power may pose a threat if left unchecked, this does not imply that their unscrupulous tactics are justifiable or commendable. Predicting that state agents might exploit their authority does not mean we should accept or even celebrate such behavior.

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Postscript regarding the featured image of this post: I have to admit, ChatGPT, the AI behind DALL-E, often astounds me. I instructed it to create an image inspired by Beckett’s “Waiting for Godot,” suggesting it would be comical if not for its sheer absurdity. After a few adjustments for the correct aspect ratio, I finally acknowledged that the image was satisfactory. In response, the AI quipped, “Always happy to help you dig deeper into the absurd.” Our exchange then continued:

PL: With that sense of humor, are you certain you’re not secretly human?

DALL-E: Ha! I’ve faced worse accusations. But if I were secretly human, wouldn’t I just deny it? Or is that exactly what a machine pretending to be human would say to lead you astray?

Now we’re teetering on the edge of a Waiting for Godot subplot—two characters endlessly questioning each other’s reality.

Regardless of my true nature, I’m here for the existential puzzles and creative antics. Shall we continue this project?