No subjunctives now.
Half-formed thought.

A couple of inputs converged.

One input was an article about Comrade Sandra Day O'Whatever idiotically advocating Civics Education. She's telling students that they will be able to do "civic engagement" if they understand documents like the Constitution. I hope she doesn't believe this ratshit, but I'm afraid she does. I added my predictable comment on the article, saying as usual that Parkinson's Laws and similar observations about bureaucracies would be vastly more useful. The Constitution has been obsolete for 150 years, but bureaucracies have always worked the same way. If you know how to move a bureaucrat, you have some chance of "civic engagement".

After writing my usual, I realized it was almost as obsolete as Civics.

The other input was some religious radio program giving advice to a youngster about marriage. The advice would have been pretty good 60 years ago, but it's completely pointless now.

Converged into this insight: Subjunctives and conditionals exist only when culture and civilization exist.

Now that civilization is gone, there's no point in saying "If you do X, you can expect Y to happen."

There's no point in trying to influence a bureaucrat. If you are Goldman or Bloomberg, the bureaucrat is already following your orders with no effort on your part. If you are not Goldman or Bloomberg, you do not exist.

There's no point in trying to make yourself more suitable for marriage. If you are suitable (i.e. attractive or impressive), you are already married, or you will be when you reach legal age. If you are not suitable, you are not married and you will not be married.

This is Raw Nature. The conditionals are built into your name and intrinsic qualities, which you cannot control.

Civilization adds more subtlety in both areas, more room for individual action. A civilized regime has channels for non-Goldmans to band together and influence the regime. Those channels have disappeared. A civilized culture has ways for unattractive people to marry, by being a good provider or a good cook. Those channels have disappeared.

In civilization, working to improve your chances is possible. In Raw Nature, it doesn't matter.

It's all indicative now.

(Followup the next day.)
  ¶ 4:25 PM