This article was originally published in the Los Angeles Times.

Nostalgia seems harmless enough, and then someone starts earnestly — absurdly — glamorizing the Stone Age.

“Damn can you imagine being a human during the paleolithic age,” tweeted a self-described “eco-socialist” podcaster in September 2021. “Just eating salmon and berries and storytelling around campfires and stargazing … no jobs no traffic no ads no poverty no capitalism-caused traumas just pure vibes.”