DOUBLE DRAGON MIGHT REPRESENT THE COGNITIVE DISSONANCE THAT ARISES WHEN TRYING TO MAKE SENSE OF A WORLD FULL OF DIALECTICS, SIMULTANEOUSLY OPPOSING TRUTHS REQUIRED BY THE LAWS OF NATURE AND THE HUMAN CONDITION. ONE OF THE THEMES OF THE ALBUM IS TRYING TO MAKE SENSE OF THE TIMES WE LIVE IN, WHILE RECOGNIZING THE BROADER CONTEXT WITHIN WHICH WE EXPERIENCE THE WORLD--THROUGH THE LENS OF THE HUMAN EXPERIENCE, THROUGH WHICH WE CAN ONLY INTERPRET REALITY SUBJECTIVELY. IN SOME WAYS, THE TIMES WE LIVE IN ARE UNPRECEDENTED. IN OTHER WAYS, THE ISSUES AND STRUGGLES WE FACE ARE NOTHING NEW, REFLECTING THE CIRCULAR NATURE OF TIME. PEOPLE IN SUBURBIA ARE VERY CLOSE TO THE TOP OF THE PYRAMID THAT IS THE GLOBAL CAPITALISTIC SYSTEM–ONLY THE 1% IN PENTHOUSES AND MANSIONS ARE ABOVE THEM. IT IS NEARLY IMPOSSIBLE FOR EVEN THE MOST WELL-INTENTIONED LIBERAL TO WRAP THEIR HEAD AROUND THE SUFFERING THAT THEIR LIFESTYLE NECESSITATES,
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SIMPLY BECAUSE THEY ARE SO FAR REMOVED FROM IT GEOGRAPHICALLY AND IDEOLOGICALLY. THIS APPLIES BROADLY TO MANY AMERICANS; HOWEVER, I WOULD ARGUE THAT AMERICANS WHO LIVE IN MORE URBAN AREAS WITH MORE INTERNATIONAL EXPOSURE, OR WHO ARE LIVING IN POVERTY THEMSELVES, HAVE A MUCH BETTER GRASP OF THIS DUE TO THEIR CLOSER PROXIMITY TO THIS SUFFERING. EVEN AS PROBLEMS LIKE CLIMATE CHANGE, INEQUALITY, AUTHORITARIANISM, AND GENOCIDE BECOME UNDENIABLE, THE CONDITIONING IN THIS BUBBLE IS SO POWERFUL THAT THE PEOPLE INSIDE OF THIS BUBBLE ARE STILL ABLE TO THINK OF THESE PROBLEMS IN THE ABSTRACT. THEY MIGHT EXPERIENCE SLIGHT CHANGES–EGGS GET MORE EXPENSIVE, WHATEVER. BUT THEY DONT WITNESS THE INJUSTICE AT THE BOTTOM RUNG IN A TANGIBLE WAY. BECAUSE OF THIS ABSTRACTION, THEY EXIST IN A PLACID POLITICAL LIMBO. SEEMS LIKE A NICE LIFE.