Comment by FloorEgg

It's hard to untangle states from their derivatives when determining causes and effects in complex systems.

Maybe social fabric breaking down is a consequence of phase transitions, maybe it's a natural part of collective lifecycles.

Either way I suspect it has more to do with change than absolute state, and it's probably natural (and unpleasant to live through).

I feel mostly like an outsider these days in my optimism that the future will be better, especially in the medium to long term.