it’s generally been gradual over the last 20-30 years, watching leadership and institutional failure to recognize/adapt to any type of crisis. climate change is a big one, but catastrophic economic failures and consequences of imperial aggression too.

like I remember a few key individual adults being thick-headed in my teens, then feeling like lots of people were dumbasses for being so focused on consumerism and appearing cool/affluent.

how outrageous the global financial collapse was and how none of the bad actors were punished. an undeniable example of the state’s servitude to capital, with the exclamation point of cops roughly shutting down occupy.

the way boomers took to Facebook like pigs to shit, addicting themselves to microtransaction games.

and now, being a part of The Academy, seeing how petty careerism and the neoliberal order have sucked all the air out of the room and how our Public Intellectuals basically suck at critical thinking/analysis outside their own discipline… and sometimes even within it.

at this point, I’m so jaded I legit get confused when someone in a leadership position displays leadership qualities with competence to promote reform and future resilience. like in a “where’d this character come from? is this a prank?” way.