This turned out to be false.

It turns out that the butcher, the brewer, and the baker, if not friendly, are perfectly capable of advancing their own interest while fucking you over, poisoning you.

It turns out that gaslighting and narrative control are ultra effective, actually, and you can get away with a lot.

Also, it turns out that advancing our own interests within a pool of hostile actors really sucks, actually, unless you are a sociopath and a con-man.

It turns out that you actually want to be surrounded by people that care about you, and by people that you care about.

Who knew?