Nothing has actually happened here but for some folk, in ways that we don’t generally talk about because they don’t really make any sense, a smashing and vital victory has been achieved.

We might say well, how many people were attuned to and turned purple by this single story? And the answer is, probably not so many, but this is all day every day, the constant background hum, seeping into everything, into people’s interactions and the way they view the world.

When I see this stuff I think of my father in law, who after retiring became increasingly bored, bitter and prone to tirades about rubbish he’d seen on TV. And then our daughter came along, giving him something to enjoy and look forward to, and he never mentions any of it now...

...But in that time m, you could see how having little to do but watch TV and seethe impotently, and the frustration he felt speaking to younger people who thought it was all nonsense, could be a very easy loop to get locked into. It’s targeted right at them and easy to access.

He’s as happy as Larry now, because he has something to look forward to, something real that’s better than sitting around his house getting more and more wound up at the state of everything, and whatever They are doing.