But as to your larger thought about fear as the motivator for many people – fear of destitution or social exclusion, as I take it (I wasn’t fully clear on what exactly you believe people are afraid of, so I’m doing my best to put the components that you bullet-pointed together): it does make intuitive sense. As non-State institutions wither and fail over time – in some cases, precisely because the State has acted to undermine them as competitors – it is natural for a certain cohort to look to the State for protection. I feel as if I’m about to stumble into a tautology, so I’ll stop there.

Check with Parler about how easy it is. It’s taken them a month and they’re still not fully back up, and I’m sure have lost millions in the interim. The app no longer works on most phones since it’s apparently been disabled by Google and Apple. And they’re the lucky ones, since they have a billionaire backer.

There are thousands of banks and credit unions. This isn’t a problem until you have state and federal regulators prodding them to do this or particular choke points are doing this (e.g. Visa or Mastercard).

I think the tendency among so-called liberals to conform is pretty funny, because they’re the first to describe themselves as freethinkers, and their political opponents as brainwashed. Don’t they also have some theory that liberals are smarter than conservatives because smart people tend to be more open to new things and therefore gravitate towards liberalism?

When “pressure to conform” means a threat to your livelihood if you voice your opinions, never mind physical threats to you and your family, then yes, it’s hard. I had a job offer retracted at the last minute because someone there objected to what he inferred about my politics. Ok for me because I’m financially secure, but maybe not for someone in a more fragile situation.

Banks are refusing to work with businesses or industries they disapprove of. Parler may be shut down for good. Where does it end?