NPC stood for "Non-Player Character," a video-game reference to the very large number of characters who do not represent participants but are instead generated automatically by the software system itself. These constitute the background wallpaper for the humans who are actually playing the game, and are therefore always rather robotic and simplistic in their actions and responses. A classic example might be the members of a large horde of Orcs who are so easily slain by someone playing a hero wielding a magic sword.

In its broader, metaphorical context, the reference was to those individuals whose responses to the stimuli of our controlled-media are so simplistic and predictable that they function as almost mindless meat-puppets, easily manipulated by the powerful forces that quietly shape and dominate our society.

Over the last twelve months the Department of Homeland Security of the Trump Administration has deployed its militarized federal immigration enforcement agents in numerous high-profile actions around the country. These troops are widely called ICE, a loose term that actually subsumes agents of the Border Patrol as well, and their operations have attracted a great deal of public attention.

The controversial fatal shootings in Minneapolis recently raised that issue to a top national news story, and when I've considered the responses of many conservatives and right-wingers to these developments, the term NPC has increasingly come to my mind.

Last week I published an article on the politically self-destructive policies of President Donald Trump, as emphasized by leading Republican strategist Karl Rove. Although Trump had been elected based upon his promise to sharply curtail illegal immigration, the excessively harsh tactics of his ICE agents had now cost him the key support of top podcaster Joe Rogan, a crucial pillar of his 2024 presidential victory.