(Photo
by
Collection
of
the
Supreme
Court
of
the
United
States
via
Getty
Images)
Nǐ
Hǎo
folks,
it’s
time
to
learn
Mandarin!
For
starters,
Congress
is
scrambling
now
that
they
TikTok
ban
is
upon
us
and
no
on
swooped
in
to
save
them
from
their
bold
posturing
about
the
social
media
platform
that
they’d
hoped
would
be
bought
by
a
company
who
could
spy
on
citizens
for
nice,
American
reasons
like
selling
vitamin
supplements
or
radicalizing
them
against
wokeness:
And
it
looks
like
SCOTUS
won’t
be
there
to
help
them
save
face
by
declaring
the
ban
an
unconstitutional
violation
of
free
speech:
What
does
learning
Mandarin
have
to
do
with
any
of
this?
In
the
days
leading
up
to
the
TikTok
ban,
thousands
of
Americans
decided
to
jump
ship
rather
than
go
down
with
it.
So
many
people
migrated
to
the
Chinese
platform
Xiaohungshu
(Red
Note)
that
it
quickly
became
the
most
downloaded
app.
Congress
cloaked
their
speech
suppression
as
a
matter
of
national
security
and
preventing
data
collection,
but
if
that
was
the
goal
they’ve
failed
miserably.
So
much
data
is
being
collected
and
exchanged
that
decades
of
residual
Red
Scare
propaganda
is
being
undone
in
real
time.
America
positions
itself
as
a
veritable
land
of
milk
and
honey.
Military
budgets
are
cool
and
all,
but
significant
aspect
of
America’s
global
dominance
depends
on
it
being
a
cultural
hegemon
—
that’s
why
the
Pentagon
has
had
their
hand
in
the
Marvel
universe.
The
government’s
hard
earned
cultural
hegemony,
or
soft
power,
is
getting
positively
shattered
as
Americans
flock
to
XHS.
After
less
than
a
week
on
the
app,
day
to
day
life
is
looking
a
lot
less
like
“Land
of
the
Free”
and
more
like
the
land
of
“You
live
like
this?”:
Remember
how
Trump
ran
on
White
Supremacy
bringing
grocery
costs
down
and
proceeded
to
back
pedal
on
that
promise
as
soon
as
he
won?
You
know
who
is
doing
a
phenomenal
job
of
making
it
look
like
everyone
can
afford
to
eat
healthily
on
a
budget
in
China?
Random
Xiaohongshu
users:
$6.55
would
barely
cover
the
tip
if
you
got
lunch
at
a
sit-down
spot
in
Manhattan!
It
would
be
one
thing
if
2025’s
cross
cultural
experience
only
cut
through
the
propaganda
Netizens
have
been
given
about
America,
but
the
exposure
is
cutting
through
the
propaganda
we
give
ourselves.
Remember
the
days
when
Fox
could
bring
up
boogeymen
like
the
Chinese
“social
credit
score”
and
normalization
of
child
labor
to
scare
their
listers
in
to
submission?
That’s
going
to
be
a
little
harder
to
do
when
you
hear
that
that’s
fake
straight
from
the
horse’s
mouth:
And
the
kicker?
Americans
are
the
ones
with
social
credit
scores
—
we
call
it
a
credit
score.
Try
getting
a
mortgage
without
one.
And
child
labor?
At
least
two
sitting
justices
would
be
totally
okay
with
getting
rid
of
child
labor
laws.
For
many,
this
has
been
an
eye
opening
“Are
we
the
bad
guys?”
moment.
Congress’
decision
to
ban
TikTok
is
cascading
so
poorly
that
an
act
to
extend
the
January
19th
deadline
out
by
270
days
to
flatten
the
curve
has
already
been
introduced.
But
the
damage
has
already
been
done.
Even
if
they
lift
the
ban
entirely,
some
Americans
will
still
platform
jump
out
of
spite.
Ban
whatever
international
app
Americans
jump
to
next
and
they
risk
even
more
discontent
at
a
time
where
all
of
the
branches
have
low
approval
ratings.
We’re
living
in
interesting
times,
things
will
eventually
have
to
come
to
a
head.
Earlier:
The
People
Respond
To
The
Proposed
TikTok
Ban
In
The
Most
American
Way
Possible
Chris
Williams
became
a
social
media
manager
and
assistant
editor
for
Above
the
Law
in
June
2021.
Prior
to
joining
the
staff,
he
moonlighted
as
a
minor
Memelord™
in
the
Facebook
group Law
School
Memes
for
Edgy
T14s.
He
endured
Missouri
long
enough
to
graduate
from
Washington
University
in
St.
Louis
School
of
Law.
He
is
a
former
boatbuilder
who
cannot
swim, a
published
author
on
critical
race
theory,
philosophy,
and
humor,
and
has
a
love
for
cycling
that
occasionally
annoys
his
peers.
You
can
reach
him
by
email
at [email protected] and
by
tweet
at @WritesForRent.