Jacinda Ardern was a hideous Prime Minister of New Zealand, which pursued some of the most oppressive policies in the world during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Now she is spreading the gospel of authoritarianism far and wide, including speaking at the United Nations in favor of state censorship of disfavored speech.

Former New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern says free speech is a weapon of war, and censorship is necessary to protect free speech. pic.twitter.com/O8jQMtNs55

— illuminatibot (@iluminatibot) September 19, 2023

Ardern wore out her welcome as New Zealand’s Prime Minister and abruptly resigned in January, and is staying far away from the New Zealand elections that are occurring next month. Her  Xi-like approach to fighting COVID and the free flow of information made her a very unpopular figure in the country, and as with so many political leaders of the Left she has managed to fail upwards, bringing her failed policies and preferences to the rest of the world.

After her resignation the transnational elite rushed to embrace her, showering her with prestigious positions including a sinecure at Harvard and memberships of Boards. And, of course, a prime speaking spot at the United Nations in which she warned that the world is at war and hence must fight misinformation.

Because of course it is. The world is always at war. There is always a crisis. If wars and crises were the reason for shutting down freedoms there would never be any–and in fact, that is precisely the goal. As Ardern’s own experience shows, when given the opportunity to have a voice in how things get run the people will eventually rebel against authoritarians.

Best not to give them the opportunity to do so. Xi understands that. That is why he is cleaning house.

The United Nations is the perfect place to shill for authoritarian policies, given how many member countries are tyrannies. Ardern’s message is sure to be well received by the vast majority of the General Assembly. Imagine, if you will, the assembled representatives of the world’s elite raptly listening to the message that they should be empowered to determine what people see, read, think, and speak.

An orgasmic experience, I am sure.

In my youth, I would never have imagined that the push for censorship and increased authoritarian control would be led by the Anglosphere. The English-speaking world was the home of individual liberty, and it was our historic role to spread the values of the Scottish Enlightenment to humanity.

Liberalism and free markets empowered the once-oppressed masses. Only it turned out that the people who gained money and power decided that doing so was a very bad idea indeed. A population immiserated, uneducated, and silenced seems easier to control.

I am actually not so sure of that. Not only is that belief the origin of many evils and fundamentally immoral; I suspect it is also based on a flawed understanding of how politics works. Immiserated people may be easily subjugated for a while, but when the reckoning comes it can be quite ugly.

Free people may be difficult to control, but they are also unlikely to rebel. There aren’t a ton of examples of formerly free people slipping into tyrannies–free societies are rare–but I can’t imagine that the results of the elite’s project will please anyone, including themselves. See San Francisco and Portland, two former Meccas that are slipping into failed state territory.

Freedom has been the secret ingredient to the West’s power and wealth, and as freedom goes so goes the economy, our control over events, and our political stability.

Censorship is a very short-term solution. It will only increase anger and division, not tamp it down. Censorship as a “cure” for disinformation simply reduces every utterance of every authority to the level of disinformation. Nobody trusts anything, nor should they.

The big difference between Anthony Fauci and Alex Jones is that Jones is becoming more credible every day as Fauci beclowns himself. Jones, after all, is being proven correct in his claim that the powers that be are lying monsters. What was the last thing Fauci said that wasn’t a lie?