@SteveRoth just like in economics, the zero point often means less than we think, in life there is no neutral. trying to avoid "undue influence" is more a matter of conformity with expectations or hiding in behavior that can be considered widespread and so "normal" in that sense.

but for a country like the US — perhaps not uniquely, perhaps also for China, or India even — there can be no normal. our choices have outsize effects and will always be contested, "undue" to someone, I think.