We need to be political, in the sense of influencing people on all sides
We are not going to fix the world with science, and we are not in charge.
We cannot prevent future elite assaults of this kind. We can only delay and dampen the next round by punishing those responsible, to the best of our abilities.
Responsibility for punishment is mostly individual, because virtually all the institutions are captured. Effectiveness of individual punishment relies in part on a sufficiently accurate perception of reality, which is a continuous challenge.
The need for and benefit from people defending themselves are the intrinsic societal reasons for free speech. (See many related essays here.)
Free speech (with or without permission) exists so that we can punish with words, images, disclosures, logic… and , yes, ridicule and humiliation; and so we can catalyze individual resistance and organizations of opposition. Free speech is not solely so that one can express impactless creativity and have human connection. It is a vital balancing structural mechanism in our social dominance hierarchies. (See many related essays here.)
Establishment collaborators, enablers and planners must be exposed and destabilized. The false self-image they adopt and project should be challenged. This is often the only way we can influence those agents away from their compliant and harmful behaviours.
People know this instinctively, which is why we vote to punish, rather than to reward.
Hellbound and Down 