So from the fall of the Soviet Union (and in retrospective memory but not at-the-time reality from Reagan’s first election) to a few years after the 2007 crash, we were basically in a stable politicocultural era. I was lucky and historically informed enough to to realize it was an era before it ended, but it was still all I ever knew plus the promise of all I wanted. But while its passing might be tragic, the fact that the transition to its degenerated “sick man” state failed and now no one expects stable continuity to tangent off from here means people can stop investing any energy in keeping up with shifts and reorient towards crafting a successor to their taste