-stimulants and other drugs were widely used, socially accepted, and available even to awkward rule-following nerds like me; like the nicotine example. (I wouldn’t have been “cool” enough for cocaine if I’d lived in the 80s, just like I wasn’t cool enough for weed (until it was basically legal) now)

Oh yeah, I definitely don’t mean to overlook the real life self-medicating substance abuse that still happens. This line of thought just comes because I like the social/daily life side of history, so I’m already thinking about it, and it’s an era where ADHD was not on the radar whatsoever, but-

2/2 or a “everyone at this party seems to be having a fun and crazy time but I’m pretty calm and feel like I could probably get ALL of my letter-writing (which I’ve been putting off) done right now and make some good progress on my needlework after that” kind of thing is impossible to know.

When half the internet doesn't work because of a failure of a single vendor, that vendor is a utility, in the same way that power, water, and, back in the day, the phone companies, are/were utilities.
3/5

Imagine claiming that the Nixonites who defended Watergate, or the Reaganites who carried out Iran/Contra, or the Bushies who covered for extrajudicial wars by writing up torture memos are the non-authoritarian, pluralistic side of the party

The Nazis have always been at the table.

if people were naturally bigoted and selfish billions of dollars wouldn't need to be spent on propaganda keeping them that way