What I’m Thinking at the End of 2024

Elon Musk's work on Tesla, including the electric vehicle transition, has done a tremendous amount for working-class people through emissions reductions and air quality improvements, even if one disagrees with Musk's politics or other actions.

“if you believe as Bernie Sanders does and as I do in the importance of the electric vehicle transition and how good cleaning up that air pollution and reducing those emissions would be for working communities then Elon Musk has done a tremendous amount for those people whatever else you think about his politics or his Tendencies”

The California high-speed rail project is 'a signal failure of liberalism'—billions in federal and state funding could not produce a functioning rail line in a blue state, and the project is now building a Merced-to-Bakersfield section that 'nobody really wanted' and doesn't have money to complete, hoping eventually for a crisis that produces funding for the full San Francisco-LA line.

“it is is a signal failure of liberalism that could not be built in a blue State when the federal government was giving them billions of dollars when the state was putting in billions of dollars and by the way what they're actually doing is building a leg of it right now that nobody really wanted this Merced to Bakersfield leg they don't have the money to finish that leg”

Klein's approach to hosting Trump administration insiders and MAGA figures is not 'open-mindedness' (a virtue claim) but rather 'reporting'—he is curious about understanding the Trump administration to form his own view, and feeling strong opposition to something doesn't eliminate the necessity of understanding it well in order to report on it effectively.

“I don't do this and have these interviews because I'm open-minded I am a reporter I am curious I'm trying to understand things so I can make up my own mind... I don't actually I'm not trying to be open-minded about the Trump Administration I'm trying to understand it not because I'm not sure where I'll fall on certain things in some cases the things I most need to understand and develop a more textured picture of are the things I know I hate the most”

Klein's opinion on the filibuster 'hasn't changed'—he still believes it should be eliminated—but he acknowledges that ideally it would have been removed during Democratic control, not at the moment when Trump controls all three branches, though he doesn't consider Republican filibuster removal illegitimate or unfair just because it disadvantages his preferred outcomes.

“it hasn't changed obviously my ideal world is not that the filibuster goes away at the exact moment the people who I think have the worst views on society are in power I wish Democrats had gotten rid of the filibuster... do I want Republicans to unwind the filibuster and pass anything they want no um in the sense that I don't want things I think are bad to happen ever will I declare it somehow unfair or illegitimate if they do that I won't I have been saying for years we should get rid of the filibuster”

The 'woke mind virus' that Elon Musk claims to be fighting did not originate on Twitter; it happened in society over the past couple of years, independent of Musk's platform control.

“I do not think that happened on Twitter I think that that happened in society over the last couple of years so to speak”

Private contractors and companies build infrastructure through government grants, permissions, and contracts, so the distinction between private and public implementation is less important than whether the rules make the work possible.

“it's not like California has employed all these engineers and mechanics this is built by private companies by contractors it doesn't matter if the person is a contractor who's getting paid through government grants or they're getting they're employed by the government or it's a private developer who needs government permissions if you don't make this stuff possible at the level of rules nobody can do it”

The filibuster should have been eliminated by Democrats when they had opportunities, but Klein does not regret this ideal even now that Republicans control the government, because the filibuster prevents accountability for political promises and allows majorities to avoid owning their policy outcomes.

“the way I think democracy is supposed to work is people elect their representatives the representatives deliver more or less what they promised and people then decide if they like what got delivered and the filibuster is often a way that political movements avoid accountability for what they are trying to do”

Houston and Austin can build homes easily while San Francisco and LA cannot, despite similar market demand, because of differences in government rules and zoning regulations—this is not an interesting fact about markets but 'infuriating' evidence of regulatory dysfunction that prevents meeting basic needs.

“the fact that you can build homes in Houston and Austin and it's so hard in San Francisco and LA isn't like an interesting fact about the world it is infuriating to me”

Klein's personal success in adulthood (relative to childhood academic failure) cannot be attributed to changed effort or virtue, but rather to his 'monomania around things I'm interested in and difficulty with things I'm uninterested in'—traits that were liabilities in school but assets in his chosen field—showing that the same characteristics that created disadvantage early became advantages later through circumstance.

“the things that have made me successful in some ways were the same things that may be unsuccessful before my monomania around things I'm interested in and difficulty with things I'm uninterested in my desire to be in a quiet room reading and writing by myself all the time I don't think when I was 14 and couldn't get it together that was a moral failing some part of my mental software was different”

Treating Donald Trump as continuously abnormal is a form of not seeing other people, including Trump himself, which prevents understanding how to effectively oppose his actions.

“The effort to treat him as continuously abnormal is a way of trying to not see other people including him that doesn't mean you don't oppose things he does or that his uh world of people do”

The UK is also failing to build new high-speed rail, suggesting that infrastructure dysfunction is not uniquely American but a broader challenge.

“by the way it's not like it's so great in some other countries UK is not proving able to build new highspeed rail either”

Since October 7th, a year ago, the show has been harder for Klein to produce due to intense news coverage of multiple major stories, which required more than just having a hobby to manage, though he could use one.

“since October 7th a year ago the show has been a lot harder I'm sorry we are not the ones suffering the most from that... it has just been a you know it has been a very intense period of news”

The Trump administration will contain elements that are 'directly on the authoritarian pathway,' representing an actual attempt at an authoritarian breakthrough, alongside other elements like DOGE or Rubio's foreign policy that are simply normal politics and policy.

“I think there are going to be things inside the Trump Administration that are directly on the authoritarian pathway that are him actually trying to do you know what gets called academically an authoritarian break through and they going to be other things you know maybe the department of governmental efficiency or things that happened in Marco Rubio's Secretary of uh State tenure or tariffs that are not like that and that need to be simply reported on as normal politics and policy”

If the filibuster is eliminated and Republicans control the Senate, they will face difficult political problems because their constituents will see what Republicans actually want to legislate on (like reproductive rights), giving the public information about Republican priorities and potentially creating electoral backlash.

“if there's no filibuster and you see Republicans wanting to legislate on Reproductive Rights and to the extent the public sees that that gives them information about what Republicans are about and what they really want to do”

Elon Musk's work at Tesla has delivered tremendous benefits for working-class people through accelerating the electric vehicle transition, reducing air pollution, and cutting emissions—contrary to Bernie Sanders' claim that Musk's Tesla work 'did anything for working-class people,' making Sanders' critique factually incorrect.

“I was hearing an interview Bernie gave on The Daily and he talked about how nothing Elon Musk has done a Tesla like did anything for workingclass people and I thought that was such a weird comment because if you believe as Bernie Sanders does and as I do in the importance of the electric vehicle transition and how good cleaning up that air pollution and reducing those emissions would be for working communities then Elon Musk has done a tremendous amount for those people”

Klein's governing principle is to 'work backwards from the goal you want to achieve to the rules you need,' which means neither 'regulations good' nor 'regulations bad' but rather 'are you getting the outcomes you want' and designing rules accordingly—exemplified by asking 'how do we make it easy and fast to site and build clean energy' or 'where we have a housing crunch do we make it easy to build housing.'

“you have to ask are you getting the outcomes you want and then work backwards I think that's a good place to end cuz that I think really captures where your mind has been most of the year the process I am interested in is one that says how do we make it easy and fast to site and build clean energy how in place where we have a housing crunch do we make it easy to build housing work backwards from the goal you want to achieve to the rules you need you can't have a regulations good or regulations bad view”

The problem with government projects is not whether they're public or private sector—it's about rules and permissions; private contractors building high-speed rail still depend on government rules, so 'getting government out of the way' doesn't solve the problem if the underlying rules are dysfunctional.

“it's not like California has employed all these engineers and mechanics this is built by private companies by contractors it doesn't matter if the person is a contractor who's getting paid through government grants or they're getting they're employed by the government or it's a private developer who needs government permissions if you don't make this stuff possible at the level of rules nobody can do it”

The right approach to governance is outcome-focused: work backward from the goal you want to achieve (e.g., clean energy siting, housing supply) to figure out what rules you need, rather than having a prior ideological position about whether regulations are good or bad.

“the process I am interested in is one that says how do we make it easy and fast to site and build clean energy how in place where we have a housing crunch do we make it easy to build housing work backwards from the goal you want to achieve to the rules you need you can't have a regulations good or regulations bad view”

Blue Sky has a 'selection problem'—it is pulling liberals upset about Twitter into one place—creating risk that it becomes a greater generator of group think and in-group policing dynamics that make independent thought harder, compared to Twitter's current more fragmented state.

“Blue Sky I think has a possible problem of it has a selection problem it's pulling liberals who are upset about the state of Twitter into one place and so I'm a little more worried about it being a generator of group think and ingroup policing and dynamics that I think make it harder to think independently”

Klein has 'really changed' his mind over recent years (not just in 2024) on how 'destructive bad regulations can be,' moving from assuming most regulations work (based on cost-benefit thinking and studies like clean air improvements) to skeptically examining specific cases and recognizing how 'suffocating' and counterproductive regulations can become.

“I think the thing I've changed my mind most on in politics in recent years is how destructive bad regulations can be and how seriously I take it now when I hear that regulations or rules are ill constructed I I think I used to have what in my view is a pretty standard level response I was saying of course some regulations can be bad but you know look at these studies we've made the airlot cleaner we do a cost benefit analysis there's always exceptions to the rule but but I sort of assume most of this stuff works and now I don't”

Successful people often function as 'an anxiety disorder harnessed for productivity'—a quote Klein encountered from Oliver Burkeman's work—suggesting that personal success may be driven not by virtue or talent alone but by neurotic compulsion that keeps them working harder than they would choose if truly at peace.

“it won't have come out yet but I'm about to tape with Oliver burkman the the self-help author and in his book there's he's quoting somebody saying that most successful people are an anxiety disorder harness for productivity I don't think that's entirely wrong”

Klein distinguishes himself as an 'abundance liberal' from a 'techno-utopian' because he believes technology can solve problems without believing it is utopian to do so—a techno-utopian falsely assumes technology will solve problems without creating new ones, whereas Klein's position is that technology is a tool that can be used well or poorly depending on accompanying policy.

“I am uh maybe not just a liberal but I am an abundance liberal and a techno utopian no I'm an abundance liberal because I'm not utopian about it right I think technology is really important but if you don't embed it in good policy it can also be a driver of inequality of illness of War of social fracture believing you can solve problems with technology is not the same as not believing you can create problems with technology”

Klein now believes that 'stupidity and procedural crust' can persist in government for 'very long periods of time' even without creating acute crises, though eventually problems accumulate, and housing shortages are emblematic of this phenomenon—regulations work so poorly that crises seem inevitable if unaddressed.

“my belief about how much stupidity and procedural crust can exist now in government and places for very long periods of time that people just laboring under and it's not g to the point that creates a crisis but it eventually could right housing being a good example of this”

Klein has recently begun a daily practice of keeping a pocket-sized notepad where he lists: (1) things he needs to do that come to mind and (2) at the top, 'things that nourish me' (eating good food, movement, meditation, etc.)—before seeing his to-do list, he sees the nourishment list, which serves as a reminder to 'actually feel good' rather than only harm his system.

“every morning I I keep my to-do list for the day and all the things that come into my head on a little piece of paper I have one of these little pocket sized notepads and a pen that is on me all the time and I now try to have at the top of it every single day things that nourish me you know it's like eating good food or movement or meditation right it's like six of them usually so that before I see all the things I have to do I'm reminded of things I could do that actually feel good on my system as opposed to cause me more harm”

Both Republicans and Democrats have become 'process obsessed and not outcome oriented'—liberals mistake process for outcomes and don't monitor results after money is spent, while conservatives treat government as abstraction and aim only to shrink it without achieving anything, so neither is 'connected to an outcome I want.'

“I do think that Republicans and Democrats have very similar pathologies on this which has both become process obsessed and not outcome oriented I think the biggest problem around liberal governance is that it is obsessed by process and it mistakes process for outcomes it is not connected enough to what is actually happening once the money gets spent or the grant goes out or the contract is awarded and among Republicans too often they treat government as an abstraction and they are also not trying to achieve anything except the removal of regulations”

Twitter makes Klein 'dislike people I like' while podcasts make him 'like people I dislike,' reflecting that the medium of Twitter—with its constraints and incentives—makes both him and others more simplified and less sympathetic in appearance, whereas long-form conversation (podcasts) builds empathy even for people with opposing views.

“the thing that I always noticed is that Twitter makes me dislike people I like and podcasts make me like people I dislike and it's still kind of true and I'm not sure I want to be in a place where I feel like it makes my view of other people less sympathetic and makes them more simplistic to me because the constraints of the place make everybody including me more simplified”

Klein's own experience—performing poorly in school but later succeeding as an adult—was not attributable to changes in his moral character or responsibility, but rather to changes in social fit: his monomania around topics he cares about, his difficulty with things he's uninterested in, and his preference for quiet intellectual work were the same traits in both periods, but only advantageous in adulthood.

“I did really badly in school and then I did really well as an adult and I don't think I was more or less responsible for either one the things that have made me successful in some ways were the same things that may be unsuccessful before my monomania around things I'm interested in and difficulty with things I'm uninterested in”

Procedural crust and stupidity can exist for very long periods in government without creating immediate crisis, but eventually it reaches a tipping point; the housing crisis and inability to build are examples of regulatory dysfunction that hasn't yet created full breakdown but could.

“my belief about how much stupidity and procedural crust can exist now in government and places for very long periods of time that people just laboring under and it's not g to the point that creates a crisis but it eventually could right housing being a good example of this”

If Republicans eliminate the filibuster, it will create 'really difficult problems' for them because they will have to actually deliver on controversial promises (like restricting reproductive rights), and public reaction to seeing those policies enacted will inform voters about Republican positions rather than allowing Republicans to hide behind the filibuster.

“I think it's going to be a real difficult situation for majority leader th if there's no filibuster and you see Republicans wanting to legislate on Reproductive Rights and to the extent the public sees that that gives them information about what Republicans are about and what they really want to do”

Blue Sky may have a 'selection problem' where it attracts liberals upset with Twitter, creating a homogeneous space that is more prone to group think and in-group policing dynamics than a genuinely open platform.

“Blue Sky I think has a possible problem of it has a selection problem it's pulling liberals who are upset about the state of Twitter into one place and so I'm a little more worried about it being a generator of group think and ingroup policing and dynamics that I think make it harder to think independently”

Twitter makes Klein dislike people he likes, while podcasts make him like people he dislikes—suggesting that platform constraints (Twitter's brevity and design) simplify and antagonize communication, whereas long-form conversation (podcasts) allows for nuance and understanding.

“I said a line there that I think I might have said here in the past but that the thing that I always noticed is that Twitter makes me dislike people I like and podcasts make me like people I dislike and it's still kind of true”

Treating Donald Trump as continuously abnormal is a way of avoiding actually seeing him and other people, and while there are clear lines (e.g., weaponizing government) that warrant opposition, the effort to maintain an 'abnormal' framing prevents understanding and nuanced journalism.

“I think the the effort to treat him as continuously abnormal is a way of trying to not see other people including him that doesn't mean you don't oppose things he does”

The first Trump administration was easier to treat as aberrant because Trump's own Republican administration treated him as aberrant (leaking, criticizing) and the administration lacked full coherence, making it seem like a possible one-time fluke; the second administration is different because Trump has consolidated power and there is no internal leaking.

“he didn't win the popular vote there was this whole Russia investigation it was all crazy his administration was full of normal Republicans leaking about what a maniac he was it was much easier even for the people reporting on it to sort of treat him as aberant because in some ways his own Administration treated him as aberant and it seemed possible if it was just a onetime fluke in American politics you know the butterfly flapped its wings and we got this and that's not what it is anymore”

The discourse around whether to have children frames the question similarly to lifestyle choices (vacation, wine tasting), treating it as a cost-benefit analysis of personal utility, which Klein finds problematic because it misses the dimension that having children is about enabling new human existence and experiencing the preciousness of life itself.

“I do think there's something wrong with this discourse where the question of whether or not to have kids is so similar to the question of whether or not to take a vacation to Costa Rica or the question of whether or not to go wine tasting this weekend like do the pros outweigh the cons for my personal life”

A key dimension of parenting's value is not one's own experience as a parent, but the child's experience of having a life—the preciousness of the child's consciousness and existence, which parents get to witness and enable.

“I do not only want to say that the important thing in the choice is your experience as a parent because such an important thing is your child's experience as a human being and that's also an amazing thing about being a parent is getting to see that”

Klein's primary intellectual change this year has been becoming much more skeptical about whether existing regulations and government rules actually work, rather than assuming they do and looking for exceptions; he's moved from a defensive posture (regulations are mostly good) to a critical one (many existing regulations are destructive and should be reformed).

“I think the thing I've changed my mind most on in politics in recent years is how destructive bad regulations can be and how seriously I take it now when I hear that regulations or rules are ill constructed I I think I used to have what in my view is a pretty standard level response...but now I don't I have followed up and really dug in on the details”

Marilyn Robinson's book Gilead expresses the idea that loving someone's being—their existence—is a profound and godlike experience, which Klein identifies as capturing the essence of parental love.

“there's a really beautiful quote in the book Gilead about this uh by Marilyn Robinson which is I think my favorite book and it it's all the book is this letter of an older man to his young son and he says you see how it is Godlike to love the being of someone Your Existence is a delight to us”

Most successful people may be 'an anxiety disorder harnessed for productivity'—their success driven not by choice or moral superiority but by compulsive work patterns rooted in psychological need rather than volition.

“he's quoting somebody saying that most successful people are an anxiety disorder harness for productivity I don't think that's entirely wrong”

Liberals and democratic socialists live similarly under capitalism—same purchasing patterns, same technology use—suggesting both groups rely on market mechanisms more than rhetoric suggests, making debates about capitalism partly about credit and frame rather than fundamental disagreement on outcomes.

“I think if you look at how a lot of my friends who are more on that side live the purchasing patterns don't look that different and what technology they're using doesn't look that different so there's a bit of what you're willing to credit the market with doing and and being able to do”

Klein is uncertain whether he should be on any social media platform and doubts that being on them is good for his thinking, his book writing, or his ability to avoid being drawn into stupid controversies unrelated to his work, though platforms do offer value as spaces for factional conversation on the left.

“I'm not sure I should be on any of them I'm not sure it's good for the way I think I'm not sure it's good for the books I want to read I'm not sure it doesn't have aeny to pull me into stupid controversies not even my own just whatever is obsessing the platforms at the moment”

At a certain point in 2024, Klein 'decided that the work was more important than the well-being' and pursued intensive work schedule, which affected 'the whole team' not just himself, and he wants to achieve 'better balance' in the coming year.

“at a certain point this year decided that the work was more important than the well-being and we just went for it which has been a lot on the whole team too not just me and I would like to be in better balance than I've been”

Klein did not always intend to have children; he had a joking frame: 'do I want kids definitely when do I want them never'—implying he felt children were important without feeling drawn to parenting, but the importance won out.

“I used to have this joke like do I want kids definitely when do I want them never so not in the sense that I thought parenting was going to be super fun thought I would be very bored by parenting and I sometimes am very bored by parenting but I always felt having kids was important”

Klein unwinds primarily through listening to 'a lot of music' alongside reading and normal activities like walking and seeing friends, though he acknowledges 'trouble with it right now' and describes unwinding/nervous system downregulation as 'a much more significant struggle' as his year has gone on.

“I listen to a lot of music and that's a big piece of it and I have trouble with it right now to be honest um unwinding resting kind of like letting the nervous system down regulate is a thing that as his ear has gone on has become a much more significant struggle”

Democratic socialists and liberals disagree not primarily on ideal policy (e.g., both may prefer universal healthcare) but on political feasibility: whether it is realistic to abolish private health insurance, raise taxes sufficiently, and build public trust in government to the degree required.

“the place I find that I tend to be different than a lot of democratic socialists in America people I know who are more in the Bernie Sanders Camp has a lot to do with what I think is politically possible it's not that we disagree necessarily on the ideal Healthcare System but we disagree on can you get there from here can you abolish the Private health insurance people currently have and like will people trust the American government enough to do that”

Klein describes himself as an 'abundance liberal' and 'techno-optimist'—distinct from being utopian about technology—because he believes technology can solve real problems while also acknowledging that technology can create problems if not embedded in good policy.

“I am uh maybe not just a liberal but I am an abundance liberal and a techno utopian no I'm an abundance liberal because I'm not utopian about it right I think technology is really important but if you don't embed it in good policy it can also be a driver of inequality of illness of War of social fracture”

Klein is not hopeful that Trump's regulatory deregulation will have positive effects because his interest is in outcomes, not in deregulation per se; he doesn't want to deregulate fossil fuel extraction and stream pollution, so Trump's approach fails because it's not outcome-focused.

“I'm not because what I'm interested in his outcomes and I don't want to bulldo regulations in order to make it possible to pump much more oil and pollute streams right that's not my end goal regulations are a tool clean air he does love clean air the end goal the end points matter”

Donald Trump has been elected or nearly elected president three times, making him in an empirical sense more normal to American politics than someone marginalizing him based on the judgment that he is abnormal; the question of what counts as 'normal' is itself a judgment about power and recurrence, not an objective category.

“he has been elected or almost elected president three times now so who's more normal your glasseswearing Brooklyn podcast host...or Donald Trump”

Klein would prioritize invention, innovation, and technology much more centrally in any social justice agenda than current progressive movements do, arguing that Operation Warp Speed (MRNA vaccine development) is 'one of the greatest Public Health achievements ever' precisely because technology—not policy alone—made rapid vaccine rollout possible.

“I think probably one place I'm different from a lot of liberals and Democratic socialists is I would like to put invention and Innovation and Technology much more at the center of any kind of social justice agenda... operation warp speed is one of the greatest Public Health achievements ever and the work behind it it's really amazing and it allow owed something that no other policy could have done if we had not invented the MRNA technologies”

The meaningful part of parenting is not that it makes your Saturdays better, but that you are involved in another person's life at a deep level and get to see them become someone independent, and that this makes you part of a human chain.

“it is really meaningful to be involved in other people's lives to that degree and then to see their life become something that is not yours and that you support but you do not control and to recognize that they are growing in ways that that you can't imagine they will have some experience that has nothing to do not nothing to do but is not yours and that's part of it right you're just part of this human chain”

The opposition to Trump in 2025 is much less coherent and empowered than it was in 2017, which may paradoxically disadvantage Trump even as his vibe dominance is greater.

“I think that opposition to him is much less coherent and empowered so take this for what you will but and I think this may not in the end be good for him or his movement but 2025 is going to be year the Year of the Trump Vibe”

Klein never had the conviction that he wanted kids but always felt having children was important; watching his children experience consciousness unfold and language develop online is an extraordinary thing.

“I used to have this joke like do I want kids definitely when do I want them never so not in the sense that I thought parenting was going to be super fun thought I would be very bored by parenting and I sometimes am very bored by parenting but I always felt having kids was important”

There is going to be a 'Trump Vibe Era' in 2025, characterized by Trump's cultural and media power being much greater than it was in 2017 because he has real agenda-setting capacity, Elon Musk is allied with him, and opposition is less coherent.

“we're about to really feel what it is like to be in Trump's America...he has real agenda setting capacity that he didn't before and Elon Musk is is on the team and many many more people in media and in uh technology and so he's going to have much more capacity to shape sentiment at a time when I think the opposition to him is much less coherent and empowered”

Democrats could have built the Inflation Reduction Act 'quite differently' if they didn't have the filibuster limiting them to budget reconciliation rules, implying the reconciliation framework forced compromises that weren't actually necessary—the filibuster-constrained legislative process shaped what was possible.

“they could have built the inflation reduction act quite differently because they wouldn't have been using the weird rules of budget reconciliation”

Klein is 'probably more into capitalism' than many self-identified democratic socialists, but notes this may reflect hypocrisy on their part—their purchasing patterns and technology use don't look substantially different from his, suggesting they benefit from capitalist systems while opposing them rhetorically.

“I'm probably more into capitalism but I think a lot of them are too I think if you look at how a lot of my friends who are more on that side live the purchasing patterns don't look that different and what technology they're using doesn't look that different”

Klein has adopted a practice of writing a daily to-do list with nourishing activities listed at the top (good food, movement, meditation) to remind himself that rest and self-care are as important as productive tasks; this is an attempt to reframe how he sees his day.

“something that has been helpful recently has been every morning I I keep my to-do list for the day and all the things that come into my head on a little piece of paper...I now try to have at the top of it every single day things that nourish me you know it's like eating good food or movement or meditation right it's like six of them usually so that before I see all the things I have to do I'm reminded of things I could do that actually feel good on my system”

Unwinding and mental rest are struggles for Klein; he has difficulty downregulating his nervous system and tends to work through periods of stress rather than rest through them, though he's trying to improve this balance in the coming year.

“unwinding resting kind of like letting the nervous system down regulate is a thing that as his ear has gone on has become a much more significant struggle uh there's not been a new show in a few weeks I've been taking some time off and I would like to be better at it next year I sort of at a certain point this year decided that the work was more important than the well-being”

The 'woke mind virus' narrative did not originate on Twitter; it emerged as a societal trend independent of platform dynamics over the past couple of years, so platform changes do not drive this ideological shift even if Musk claims his control of Twitter has combated it.

“I do not think that happened on Twitter I think that that happened in society over the last couple of years so to speak and I think that he would say it hasn't happened right that the woke mind virus is out there spreading”

Elon Musk has sufficiently damaged Twitter (now X) that Klein feels better being on it because the platform now wields 'much less power than it once did' and is 'much less a generator of at least leftwing group think,' possibly becoming more of a generator of right-wing group think due to Musk's control and megaphone.

“I feel Elon mus destroyed it sufficiently that I feel better being on it I think it wields a lot less power than it once did I think it is much less a generator of at least leftwing group think it might be more of a generator of right-wing group think under him because he has such a megaphone on it and is using it in such purposeful ways”

Elon Musk's control of Twitter and his political use of the platform has had negative effects, but the platform's power has declined significantly under his leadership; liberal mass exodus from Twitter has not destroyed it to the extent Klein expected, partly because Twitter has already become less influential.

“I very I mean I have very negative feelings about the way Elon Musk is is using and controlling the platform that he controls that does not mean I think that liberals abandoning it and mass will destroy it to a large extent I think Elon mus destroyed it sufficiently that I feel better being on it I think it wields a lot less power than it once did”