The longer our country's history, the faster and more extreme we become, tearing off into all directions at once. Even as we progress and go forward, it seems, we can grow in opposite directions -- while trying to juggle and reconcile our parallel lines, already skewing to the extreme, pointed and going everywhichway at once.
Some extremes may be related to the increased population effect you've noted from time to time, in which it seems there are thousands of people in every conceivable hobby or belief group, from The Intercontinental Plaid-Toaster-Cozy Aficionados to The Society of Tap-Dancing Proust Performance Artists.
Where there once were one or two fans, population swelled membership by the same percentages and proportions as the population grew, increasing numbers in all ranks, no matter how obscure. The Internet's made it easier to find one another and band together in groups, too.
It's happened remarkably fast, considering the humble speed of progress throughout most of human history. The last century or so is not even a galloping horse alongside someone's shambling stroll -- it's a rocket up against a stalled millipede.
For a small taste, sample some old movies. (If you're an old movie buff you'll already know what I mean.) Take one at random from the late 1920s or 1930s. I'll bet you bogged down in time-flow, mired in molasses, and trapped in amber -- and in nothing flat. It takes a very patient member of the 21st century to not mutter or scream at the screen, "C'mon, c'mon, c'mon, already!"
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