This is incredibly fascinating. Thank you for sharing! I understand the cog metaphor entirely. People aren’t evil; they’re just cogs in the machine and can be stupid and/or lazy. But rarely outright evil.

Interracial relationships are a whole deal I think. Anyone who thinks that a minority can’t be racist against white people has never been a minority in a strong/conservative community marrying a white person. It’s a disaster, on both sides. (I’m in an interracial marriage. It’s pretty far from a walk in the park.)