I’m not sure it’s all that different, in much the same way that Grand Theft Auto and Red Dead Rwhichever are thematically extremely similar, but we romanticize the setting for the latter far more, so it comes off with a different, more charismatic vibe. Realistically, living in a time (real or imagined) when criminal gangs murder people in broad daylight with near impunity wouldn’t somehow become a fun adventure just because they’re on horseback.
Likewise, imposing calculated debt slavery on people to reduce their life options so they are herded into making choices convenient for someone else is pretty gross even if it can be described in terms evocative of old woodcuts and koto music. Will our distant descendants find it quaint and charming that we had to get health insurance through our employers, or that we spent our whole lives staggering under usurious student debt? Will they describe it a “cultural tradition” that held our society together?
