Iraq? Vietnam? Surely those count as slaughtering massive numbers of people on flimsy bases.

But yes that trend seems to be slowing down, which I'd attribute to the splintering of mass media. Are we actually becoming more divided, or are we just becoming more aware of divisions because we're all more connected?

For sure those count. I mean domestically. Obviously we do things abroad that we would never tolerate at home, and that's one of the biggest problems with our society. Nonetheless the domestic situation has been stable for a long time, and if the foundation cracks there, it will be notable.

I read sneak's comment as being about wars, which are mostly foreign. What domestic events were you thinking of that fit that description?

Uh, the postwar west developed the modern techniques.

For a while the rationalist approach was dominant and media channels tended to reflect that ideology.

But with the creation of the 24/7 news cycle a whole new system to leverage the modern media tools that were created.

Eventually in the 1990s this trend came to a head with the creation of Fox news and the rest is frankly history.

But before that, for a short while, it did look like reason was overcoming superstition and ignorance.