What Is The Proper Role Of Government In A Free Society?

One perennial question that every society has wrestled with is, "what is the proper role of government in a free society?".  Libertarians (or rather, right-libertarians) argue that the proper role is as minimal as possible, and akin to a night-watchman, while statists argue that the proper role is as large and comprehensive as possible, and akin to that of a micromanaging nanny.  The former protects individuals only from very narrowly-defined force or fraud, as well as foreign attack, while the latter pre-emptively protects individuals from all possible threats that exist or that one could imagine, including from themselves.  The former believes only in negative liberty at the expense of positive liberty, while the latter believes (nearly) exclusively in positive liberty at the expense of negative liberty. 

Twenty-One Debunked and the TSAP believe that both extremes are quite incorrect and often disingenuous, and that the proper role of government (at any level) is that of a macromanager.  Negative and positive liberty ought to carry (roughly) equal weight.  A welfare state, broadly defined, need not be abolished and need not be a controlling nanny state either.  And protecting individuals from themselves against their will, at least as far as consenting adults are concerned, is a fundamental overreach of the proper role of government in a free society.  And, of course, once you are an adult, you are an adult, period.

QED

Naloxone Not Associated With Moral Hazard

Good news, a new study finds that expanding access to naloxone (Narcan), an antidote that reverses opioid overdoses and saves countless lives every day, was NOT associated with increased heroin or other intravenous drug use among adolescents.  This echoes previous research that finds no such "moral hazard" occurring among adults either.  Thus conclusively ends one of the most tired, jaded, cynical, and empathy-lacking arguments against harm reduction.  

In other words, in this day and age, there is absolutely no rational reason to not make naloxone readily available, period.  Ditto for things like fentanyl test kits as well.  Those who oppose doing so are thus basing their self-righteous opposition on a selectively moralistic and ideological foundation, and certainly not a scientific or a humanitarian one.

The same goes for needle exchange programs as well, something even former NYC Mayor Mike Bloomberg openly came out in favor of during his time as mayor. 

The flip side of "live and let live" need not be "live and let die".  Harm reduction is NOT a zero-sum game, since dead people can't recover from addiction. 

NOTE:  Narcan nasal spray is now approved for over the counter (OTC) sale by the FDA.  It should have always been, but better late than never.  Beware that it only reverses opioid overdoses, not overdoses of other, non-opioid drugs such as alcohol, cocaine, crack, meth, Adderall, benzos, or xylazine ("tranq").

Once You Are An Adult, You Are An Adult, Period

Twenty-One Debunked has long believed that, regardless of whatever the general age of majority is set at, once you are an adult, you are an adult, period.  While there is of course plenty of room for nuance before reaching that age, any exceptions made after reaching that age absolutely must require truly extraordinary justification in any free society worthy of the name.  The onus inherently falls on the state to justify any such exceptions.  And for better for worse, in nearly all of the known world today, that age is set at 18.  The Canadian province of Alberta is a good model to follow, for example.

While Twenty-One Debunked does not take any official position on anything regarding the transgender community in general, we unequivocally oppose the latest red-state Republican attempts that increasingly target young adults age 18-25.  That's right, they are attempting to deny any sort of gender-affirming care to anyone under 21 or even 26 (!) in some states.  While a decent case can be made that somewhat more gatekeeping may be be good for all ages regarding any treatments that are irreversible (surgery, obviously, but also cross-sex hormone therapy too), and perhaps even banning irreversible treatments (including puberty blockers) for youth under 18, banning gender-affirming care for young adults over 18 is a major overreach at best.  And don't think they will stop there either.  This is clearly NOT about "protecting children", as no sane person would honestly consider 18-25 year olds (who are well beyond puberty) to be literal children.  No, this is the latest battle in the decades-long culture wars, by the increasingly unhinged and reactionary right wing in this unprecedentedly divided nation.  And it is a battle that is increasingly bordering on cultural genocide. 

And before anyone brings up detransitioners who end up regretting their transitions, one of the downsides of adulthood and the bodily autonomy that goes with it is, "you break it, you own it".  It sounds harsh, but it's true.  Adults make decisions they regret all the time, unfortunately.  And we can empathize with them without revoking any civil rights or bodily autonomy from young adults.  Trying to remove all possibility of regret from life is a fool's errand and a losing battle, and completely antithetical to liberty.

Once you are an adult, you are an adult, period.  Any breach of that maxim is a major red flag.

How To Make Tobacco Less Appealing And Addictive Without Banning It Or Reducing Nicotine Below Natural Levels

Here is a "Cliffs Notes" style list on how to make cigarettes and other smokeable tobacco products less addictive and appealing WITHOUT banning it outright, raising the age limit any higher than 18, or even reducing nicotine below natural levels:

• First and foremost, BAN ADDITIVES!  No non-tobacco ingredients should be added, period.
• Adding extra nicotine deliberately should also be banned as well.
• Require the smoke pH to be 8 or higher to discourage deep inhalation of smoke, as it naturally was prior to the 20th century. 
• Phase out the pH-lowering and environmentally unsustainable practice of flue-curing tobacco. 
• Phase out cigarette "filters", which don't really filter, and merely provide a false sense of security to smokers, and inherently creates a major toxic waste littering problem to boot.

If they still want to reduce maximum nicotine levels to a non-addictive level in ready-made commercial cigarettes and little cigars, go right ahead.  But it would be best to do the other things on the list first.

Also, banning the use of radioactive (!) phosphate fertilizers to grow tobacco is really a textbook no-brainer in terms of tobacco harm reduction. 

Additionally, requiring all tobacco products to be sold only in dedicated tobacco stores, or other places where you have to be 18 or older to enter, would really not be a bad idea either.  It would certainly make it less ubiquitous, convenient, and tempting without the constant reminder in grocery stores, convenience stores, gas stations, pharmacies, etc.

So what are we waiting for?

A Band-Aid Solution In Search Of A Problem (Part Deux)

We previously wrote an article about the recent wrongheaded push to ban young people under the age of 16 or 18 (depending on whose idea it is) from social media entirely, or at least heavily restrict it.  Well, now the state of Utah has finally done it, and signed it into law today, effective one year from now on March 1, 2024.  This new law does not completely ban people under 18 from social media, but in some ways it is worse than that.  What it does is 1) prohibits any Utah resident under 18 from opening a social media account, or even maintaining an existing one after March 1, 2024 unless they can provide both proof of age verification as well as proof of parental consent, 2) prohibits anyone of any age from opening a social media account or even maintaining an existing one without proof of age verification, 3) requires social media companies to provide parents with a password or other means to gain full access to their teens' accounts, 4) prohibits anyone under 18 from accessing social media from 10:30 pm and 6:30 am, 5) prohibits social media companies from showing any ads to people under 18, or using any addictive features for people under 18.  

If your jaw just dropped after reading all of that, you're not alone!

This is just plain wrong on so many levels.  That the age limit is set so high is bad enough, as is the lack of privacy for people under 18, but that not nearly the worst of it.  For starters, unlike Josh Hawley's federal bill, there is NO grandfather clause for existing accounts for anyone of any age, whether you are 18 or 80, only a mere one year delay before the law goes into effect.  Worse still, the mandatory collection and storage of proof of ID (driver's license, birth certificate, passport, etc) required by this law for ALL ages comes with NO meaningful safeguards to keep such sensitive information from falling into the wrong hands.  Fox, meet henhouse.  Everyone's privacy is at risk now, more then ever before.  Yet another example of adultism backfiring on adults.  It is the ultimate Trojan horse from Big Brother. 

And of course, the even greater loss of privacy specifically for teens should not be trivialized either, as that will put the most vulnerable young people in even greater danger still, not least from abusive and/or bigoted parents or guardians.

And the ban on addictive features, such as via those notorious algorithms, curiously only applies to people under 18 for some reason.  And it would hold the social media companies liable for that and any damages that result.  That, along with perhaps some other enhanced safety features, is probably the ONLY marginally good part of the new law, which of course they had to nerf it by age-gating it rather than simply applying it to all ages across the board.

(Why don't we simply make it illegal for any manufacturer, vendor, or company to deliberately engineer a product or service to be more addictive or habit-forming than it would otherwise be in the name of profit, for all ages, across the board, period?  Big Tech, Big Tobacco, Big Pharma, Big Food, et al., I'm looking at YOU.  That would not completely cure the problem of "limbic capitalism" in practice, of course, but it sure would greatly decrease the frequency and flagrancy of such machinations and manipulations.)

And what else does the law NOT do, but should do for all ages?  No data privacy rules, no enhanced safety features, no common carrier rules, or anything like that.  Nope, just more of the usual ageist bigotry and control under the guise of concern and protection.

If the new Utah law ever does become the national standard, then this is truly the end of an era, and the beginning of a new and even more dystopian one.  And it would also mark at least the beginning of the end of the free and open internet as we knew it.

And by extension, one more cut in the long-running, subtle "death by a thousand cuts" of the First Amendment, and the rest of the Bill of Rights as well.

One thing is for sure.  The Overton window has clearly shifted in a VERY questionable direction!

UPDATE:  Looks like the 10:30 pm social media curfew would simply be set as the default feature, which parents would be able to adjust at will.  (Thank God for small mercies, I guess.)

And there are ways of verifying age that don't compromise privacy or security, but somehow we doubt that those will be used.  In any case, teens will always find a way to game the system and get around the restrictions regardless of the method.

But with the general anonymity of social media effectively a thing of the past for all ages, thanks to the new ID verification system, the chilling effect on free speech will remain unless this law gets struck down before it goes into effect.  The clock is ticking.

UPDATE 2:  Looks like the evidence on which this law is based is less than meets the eye.  Far from a mountain of evidence, it is more like a molehill, and a shaky one at that.  Not that Big Tech is completely benign (they are not) or doesn't have a dark side (they clearly do), but we need to deal with them proportionately, and not from a place of moral panic.

And look into the other potential causes of mental health declines in young people as well.

UPDATE 3:  None of our objections apply at all to TikTok specifically, and we actually support federally banning that particular platform for all ages on pure national security grounds alone.  Or alternatively, perhaps "quarantining" it temporarily, and then buying and fully nationalizing it.  It is effectively a CCP spying app masquerading as a social media platform, and any mental health concerns are an afterthought in comparison to that.  And plenty of alternative platforms already exist now, and if those alternatives are somehow not good enough, it's really not that hard to create new ones that are.

UPDATE 4:  While research evidence is quite mixed at best, it is probably safe to conclude that, yes, Virginia, there really is a "there", there.  But it still does NOT follow that bans or undue age discrimination are the solution, as this problem calls for a scalpel, not a sledgehammer.  The Law of Unintended Consequences (aka Murphy's Law) is all too real.

Instead, things that require social media to be safer by design, like the California Kids' Code that goes into effect in 2024, would be a better idea.  The next logical step after that would be the COPPA 2.0 bill.  Ditto for many other ways to design it to be safer and less addictive as well, such as adding a bit more "friction".  Think harm reduction, not prohibition. 

See the youth-led advocacy movement Design It For Us, for more information in that regard.

Also note how The Netherlands appears to have dodged the supposedly global teen mental health crisis thus far.  Could it be that is at least in part because they are the overall most "permissive" society in the world for children and young people IRL?

UPDATE 5:  And don't forget to read Mike Males' famous rebuttals to Jon Haidt as well.  To wit, the real mental health crisis is the massive epidemic of toxic, dysfunctional adults, whose toxicity/dysfunction then inevitably rubs off on the young people in their lives.  Not to say that social media is not a potential causal factor in such toxicity overall, but clearly silencing the skeptics is another mistake to never make again.