I think this is a more global problem of “people now think they’re experts on everything, and shout about it loudly”

I dunno… I don’t think the average person in 1926 assumed they were an expert on medicine or physics or finance or whatever. If a doctor, or physicist, or banker told them something, they’d generally nod their head.

it's crazy to me that you're citing the authoritative and very top-down approach of the 1900s as a positive example here. never before or after has a society been more militarized.