It's almost funnier than Frank providing a certificate that he doesn't have "Donkey Brains" in It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TT4vVLvvb2U

You're both in luck! Someone else linked to an article that breaks down how it could work in reality: https://startrek.website/comment/9430643

This book speaks to it better than I can: https://theanarchistlibrary.org/library/david-graeber-bullshit-jobs/

Specifically take a look at

Chapter 3: Why Do Those in Bullshit Jobs Regularly Report Themselves Unhappy? (On Spiritual Violence, Part 1)

Exactly: or take folks who live in the tropics (about 40% of the human population) where it feels cold below 60F.

What many of us imagine is that it's bad when either nation does this.

Yes, it is hypocritical for most US politicians to criticize Russia's interference in US elections, but it's not incorrect.

It certainly isn't wrongthink for those of us who have little influence on what alphabet agencies do to complain about it happening just because it's happening elsewhere, too.

It’s difficult not to sound overly dramatic or hyperbolic about the situation but it really does feel like the US is uncomfortably close right now to a christofascist state.

To add to this: while it may sound hyperbolic to some folks, for plenty of us we've seen this brewing for decades. White evangelicals and right-wing politics unified in the 1980s in a way that was a clear danger to democracy, and they've only solidified their power since, given how mainstream their views are now.

IMHO Frank Zappa said it best in 1986: he got called out as being hyperbolic, but he clearly saw the writing on the wall. He's of course not the most scholarly source, but damn it Jim I'm a biologist, not a historian. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AlePLLlfH4Q

Radix malorum est cupiditas: the root of evil is greed. Or more colloquially, the love of money is the root of all evil.

One of the few things I'll hang on to from my religious childhood.

Yeah, I'm reminded of one of the things the Emissary himself tried to explain to the Prophets. In this case, however, the past experience guiding Pike's choices in the present is already in the future...

Prophet - OPS OFFICER: You have no regard for the consequences of your acts.

SISKO: That's not true. We're aware that every choice we make has a consequence.

Prophet - CAPTAIN: But you claim you do not know what it will be.

SISKO: We don't.

Prophet - JAKE: Then how can you take responsibility for your actions?

Sisko: We use past experiences to help guide us. For Jennifer and me, all the experiences in our lives prepared us for the day we met on the beach, helped us recognize that we had a future together. When we married, we accepted all the consequences of that act, whatever they might be, including the consequences of you.

Cited from: http://www.chakoteya.net/DS9/401.htm

You're getting dragged, but I think I get your point: that it might seed suspicion and distrust among not only the characters but the players?

I think it should be Rule 0 that the DM and players all respect each other's boundaries, so consent is always part of the equation IMHO. Likewise, if everyone at the table insists on playing a certain way that I'm uncomfortable with, then it's time for me to find a new table.

Do you get mad at geologists for explaining why volcanoes erupt and kill people?

Initially the CDC didn't know how much asymptomatic spread was going to be a factor: that definitely changes the math on advising everyone to mask up. By July of 2020 they were unequivocal: https://www.cdc.gov/media/releases/2020/p0714-americans-to-wear-masks.html

There is no reason why good cannot triumph as often as evil. The triumph of anything is a matter of organization. If there are such things as angels, I hope that they are organized along the lines of the Mafia.

• Kurt Vonnegut, The Sirens of Titan

Let's not throw in the towel, as dire as things look. It's not over yet. Organize.