re: #2 Romantic Heretic
Off-topic already.
I just watched this fascinating review of Civil War.
Its thesis? That America is LARPing itself into a civil war by participating in the kayfabe of the culture war.
The idea kinda resonates with me.
Our media is basically like the audience at a mid-90s talk show (think Jerry Springer), salivating and frothing at the idea of the nation splitting into two factions and going at each other like feral animals so they can film it all. They’ve been fantasizing about it since at least the 80s. After all, what’s better than a war that they can report upon from the comfort of their own homes?