Well yeah. Sure didn't stop from people claiming otherwise though, or at least ignoring it / focusing on the performance and narrative aspect instead.

I was being sarcastic. For a lot of people the narrative is more important; I'd even argue it's what people normally default to, including me. What I meant to convey then was that at this point I find all those narrative driven perspectives beyond tiresome, and yet I fully expect them to barrel on regardless, unlike what you're hoping for.

Your napkin math is one demonstration why a focus on narrative can prove misguided. It can matter very little how genuine their intents were if in practice they materially helped a significant amount.