[sanderjd]

Yeah exactly. I think that must be part of the story. I can see how doing, like, countercultural grittiness as an act could lead to cognitive dissonance and a desire to "stop being a poser".

This is why I'm skeptical of dismissing radical rhetoric as "oh that's just talk". A lot of people have a strong desire to be "real", which will drive some of them to put their money where their mouth is, even if they started out with just some "harmless" rhetoric because it seemed fun to say edgy stuff.