Thank you for the...grim optimism (it really feels like one of those things that needs its own slightly-silly neologism, the whole 'this is the moment before your infected, pus-suppurating limb finally falls off, and that's going to hurt like hell, BUT it'll be a relief compared to what you've already been enduring' kind of thing - "grimtimism"? "Hopedoom"? "Apocalyptophilia"? "Tragicomicism"? "Pseudocidal hopression"??? "Pesachopathy"?!?).

I've been saying for a while that, like it or not, I predict a "libertarian-right" near-future, warts and all, not because it's what most of us really want, but because it'll be the most livable option among those that can be readily communicated. A lot of people have heard by this point about how "The Wild West" as portrayed in the heyday of "Western" movies was McMythology for 1950's/'60s American audiences and not an accurate portrayal of the past - but maybe it'll prove to be a guiding template for the future...?