@Alex one thing i noticed in my failed career of strategy games is when looking at a scenario, and all the options seem terrible, there is one overlooked option of "don't be in this situation." which basically says the situation you are in is bad/unwinnable and you have to figure out why you ended up *here* to begin with.

i think history ends up being a bit of that too. we see people in 'current world state' trying to make a ham fisted and direct attempt at a problem. which is, ok, unsophisticated people do this (the toddler vs harvard experiments where toddlers just startj amming noodles in to meatballs), but historical knowledge + systems analysis might suggest that you are in the wrong problem space. rather than milking millionaires to pay for overpriced services (medicare) perhaps the problem is why the services are overpriced (capitalism, perverse incentives, protectionism laws)