because the cognitive dissonance makes them existentially uncomfortable.

I'm beginning to realize just how many conversations filled with negative emotion are because of this dissonance. Religion, politics, parenting: people have trouble talking about these topics because they can't deal with their own contradictions on them. Maybe when you finish up The Mirror on government, we could start building versions for other topics also. :)

To them, pointing out “the troops” behaving like sadistic, homicidal monsters was somehow blasphemy.

Maybe the rule is that as long as things are even worse somewhere else, pointing out problems in your own back yard is bad.

As always, very well said.

The "move to North Korea" image is classic. :)

Thanks again for all you do to open minds, Larken. I love seeing your content illustrated with imagery and a nice big $ reward to go with it.