

There’s an old Soviet joke: A man goes to a newspaper stand every day, buys a copy of Pravda, glances at the front cover, curses, and throws it away. After a few weeks of this the seller just has to ask what’s going on: “why do you always look at the cover but never inside?” “I’m looking for an obituary.” “An obituary? But those are in the back!” “Oh no, the obituary I’m looking for will be on the front page.”
There’s a fantastic documentary by Adam Curtis, called “I can’t get you out of my head”. It explores specifically the transition from the ‘then’ system of thinking to, well, now. It’s long but give it a watch.