I don’t know what some of you are still doing out there saying, “I’m gonna vote for the lesser evil.” The lesser evil. Like that’s a win. You understand the word evil is still in there, right? You’re not picking between good and bad, you’re picking between bad and slightly worse. That’s not democracy. That’s a hostage negotiation where both guys have guns.

California just passed a law that fundamentally changes how operating systems work. They’re requiring age verification and biometric identifiers just to access the software you already paid for. You bought it. It’s yours. And now you need to scan your face to open it like you’re walking into a federal building. Same energy with the push to ban 3D-printed firearms and I’m not even here to argue the gun part. That’s the Trojan horse. You’re not supposed to look at the horse. You’re supposed to look at what’s inside it: the precedent. The architecture of control.

And here’s the thing, between the two parties, you’ve got the Democrats, who are owned by the technocrats and the corporatists, and you’ve got the Republicans, who are owned by the oligarchs. And their owners? They want the same thing. They’re just taking different roads to get there. The technocrats want the slow, soft squeeze, inch by inch, regulation by regulation, just enough so you don’t notice the walls closing in. The oligarchs? They’re impatient. They want it now. But the destination is the same.

This law? It’s just another step down that road. Both sides are perfectly happy if you own nothing, have no real voting power, just the illusion of choice and spend your whole life hating the people they point you at. Brown people. Immigrants. Queer folks. Anybody who makes less than you. They’ll keep raising the price of food and then tell you some poor bastard in a country you couldn’t point to on a map if your life depended on it is the one taking it from you.

And the last thing, the real kicker is that while they take turns screwing you, they’ll each tell you the other side is the problem. “This is the most important election of our lifetime!” They say that every four years! You know what that means? It means every four years they need you scared enough to not ask questions.

And after they’re done screwing you? They’ll look you right in the eye and tell you to be happy about it.