Yes B4, you paint a picture of a society that has lost it's moorings Is that not the inevitability of pluralism/individual freedom? You may sound like the Orthopedist who wants to put Society in traction to repair it's broken moral spine. (if everyone could just go back to church or boy scouts again ;) Sure there is ingenious technocratic manipulation Like data mining and gerry mandering but That technology is also the reason we can talk about it. I think you give humans too much credit for organization. Although, China just arrested 47 Hong Kong politicians and Passed a law only "Patriots" can run in the future. Sights squarely on Taiwan now. How do "sanctions" work on the only developing country Whose GDP went up last year?. Seems like everyone is sanctioning each other Isn't that called the marketplace?.
Reminds me of former PM Jean Chretien who said re NAFTA "The Americans do not buy a single thing they don't want And the same is true for Canada" (negotiation brings one to the sweet spot and I suppose howlin' at the moon has it's place, not sure.. ;).