I really appreciated the story, but personally I wish the Author's note hadn't been there, or at least I wish the author hadn't felt the need to include it (although I don't blame them). They may well be right that the story would get misinterpreted otherwise, but that's not their fault. It's a shame that the political climate is such that they're afraid of being "accused" of having one belief or another.

To me, it was clear that the story was not about taking a stance on the concrete policies discussed, but rather the larger topic of AI alignment and the fact that the results of policies and instructions can be counterintuitive, and thus the "best" policies (along some axis) can be as well.

And personally, I would've preferred if the end left one thinking about that - rather than being "dragged back down" to the topic of the concrete policies - much as I sympathize with the author's situation of course; that must be terrible.