Editing Openai/67a3d7b2-a02c-800c-a7c3-1be2872065d9 (section)

===== 3.4. 2017–2023: Heightened Instability and Pandemic Shocks =====
* 2017: - Executive Stress at -9, capacity 5 or 6. A major drop from mid-2010 levels. - The Army, while not as severely stressed, is still negative. Other nodes (Property Owners, Trades/Professions) remain moderately negative but not as drastic. This could capture the extreme polarization and institutional friction of the late 2010s.
* 2020: - Suddenly, for the “Executive” row, we see Stress = -2 (relatively mild) with a high capacity of 8—some model or scenario sees the system’s “power” as large in an emergency (COVID crisis?). - Meanwhile, “Proletariat” Stress jumps to +2 in 2020, which is unusual (the data suggests an improvement?). Possibly an artifact of stimulus checks, increased labor leverage, or some other factor. - However, the next lines (2021) show a collapse: Executive Stress at -10, Army at -8, Proletariat at -8. This may reflect the aftershocks of the pandemic, the 2020 election turmoil, and general social/economic uncertainties.
* 2023: - Executive Stress remains at -9, Army at -7, continuing negative territory. - There’s no big post-pandemic bounce in these metrics; apparently, the system remains in a high-stress environment.