fwiw I don't think framing everything in as a sign in the sad story of a society on the way to 'X', is a particularly productive way to think about this kind of

fwiw I don't think framing everything in as a sign in the sad story of a society on the way to 'X', is a particularly productive way to think about this kind of story. I could be that this is just a personal story of an individual who is internally consistent, and changed a view based on discussion and new information.