That is what passed for the traditional zeitgeist 
    that we were steeped in, and everyone accepted it 
    because of the massive social proof from The Important 
    People on TV. Now looking back, we can see that the 
    traditional zeitgeist was not in our interest either, 
    and so it does not offer a compelling focus point to 
    return to. And so we're just kind of lost and rudderless, 
    looking for new directions to suspend our disbelief for. 

Very well said. I think that's what's so heartbreaking. We were right to reject that old status quo, but something even worse has replaced it.