Yeah, pretty much. People are already angry, dissatisfied, stressed, unhappy. The only reason we have these arguments about stupid irrelevant things is that there's an undercurrent of discontent in the world.

I think the news has more or less become a product that people consume to justify the release of that discontent on "enemies." And for its part, the news makes that justification as easy as possible. It's not about information and understanding, it's about emotion and division. That's the "outrage machine" part.

If we can rage at each other about the ethinicity of a mermaid or even whether there's racism in the royal family (a question that is both obvious and doesn't affect us in any way), it's not because that rage is a reflection of our level of investment in the issue, it's because we're looking for a distraction.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying that racism doesn't matter, obviously. I'm saying that none of us, not even Uju Anya, is so emotionally invested in the history of colonialism or "revelations" about the Royal family's casual racism that the Queen's death had us "triggered." We're already triggered. I think the news just acts as an excuse.

I'd be willing to bet a lot of money that the overwhelming majority of people hadn't given the Queen a serious thought in years. And have already gone back to not thinking about her at all.