Most Americans are lazy until they aren’t. Doesn’t require much energy to show up somewhere with a gun in hand now does it?

I still remember in the sequel to The first Mage: The Ascension ttrgp book that the Ascension war was fought and ultimately came to a stalemate because when the average person was given the opportunity to Ascend and be giving God like powers to rewrite the world to their own whims they chose to watch TV instead.