We correctly compare this empire's deterioration to those of other empires, but there is a distinct difference that will have us see--is having us see--incredible deviations from the pattern. Already, the usual thresholds have been crossed.

No citizen of any empire before had a letter in their pocket that changes the "Love, Mom" to being "Love, [anyone]"--their celebrity hero, their best friend, their crush, an "expert."

The common citizen receives a unifying message from 10,000+ "fellow experiencers" (rather than their irl community). These "fellow experiencers"--comprised of manufactured consent personless profiles and the strangers and friends and family members that agree with them--unite by a need to feel informed, progressive, involved, etc., such that they are all concordant that nothing is falling apart but instead is being built up--and that, if something is ever wrong, it is the fault of the only group that ever sustained the empire.