While reading his preferred newspaper, Ron begins to think that banning homeschooling is a great idea. After all, homeschooled kids are weird, under-educated, and likely to be abused, right? Well, Seamus and Bob have some things to say about that…

Chinese censorship of its own people is pretty terrible, but why should we in the US be bothered by it? Well, the effects don't simply stop at China's borders. China's speech restrictions affect tons of things that Americans want, need, and consume, from our entertainment to the information we use to shape our public health strategies. Now, China has upped the game with their new national security law regarding Hong Kong, criminalizing anyone, anywhere in the world advocating democratic reform for Hong Kong. Not only should the right of people all over the world to speak freely be protected for principle's sake but also because silencing anyone can impact everyone.

When Seamus is arrested for spying on other people’s conversations about economics, it becomes pretty clear that the government doesn’t actually frown on monitoring the actions and communications of individuals. They just frown on OTHER people doing it. Despite the initial outcry when Edward Snowden leaked the details of the US government’s domestic surveillance apparatus to the public, the broad and often warrantless collection of metadata continues to happen. Constant surveillance leads to serious problems, not least of which is self-censorship.

Seamus is stuck in jail after that surveillance misunderstanding, but he still manages to find himself in one of the many protest-turned-riots that have been happening all over the US this year. The rioters and their supporters brush off the consequences of their destructive behavior with the cavalier claim that “insurance will cover it.” But even leaving aside the fact that that’s definitely NOT how insurance works, riots have other, long-term effects that no insurance plan, no matter how comprehensive, could possibly cover.

How can anybody value the economy above human life? Should we be willing to halt economic progress if it saves just one life? Well, as Ron finds out, the "economy" is just the name we used to describe the actions of millions of human beings, producing and trading goods & services with each other. All of our lives DEPEND upon the economy. When people aren’t allowed to work and produce, they’re made poorer, unhealthier, and unhappier. Also, slowing down production has major consequences, like rising rates of global and domestic food insecurity. In this sense, lockdowns may be causing more deaths than they’re preventing. If that’s the case, we should end them to save lives.

Social media platforms like Twitter and Facebook have done wonders for the world by making instant global communication a reality. But when these platforms start increasing censorship and deciding which news is fake or not, the power of the internet is jeopardized. Special guest Tim Pool joins Seamus, Bob, and Ron for some fact-checking of social media censorship on this episode of Common Sense Soapbox.