The faces of the propaganda apparatus and the commissars of the welfare machine are very...out there.
And so are all the conveniences that allow them to be so confident. Ever have so many small, usually insignificant things go wrong at once that you felt that you must have a Kick Me sign on your back. If that happens over and over, and costs a little money when it does, nerves start to get raw. You start thinking about what you ought to do different. You go on defense.