The Epidictic Genre: "After listening to the speaker, they merely applauded and went away"

Here is a quote I found from Perelman & Olbrechts-Tyteca (1971) that is so apropos to my life at the present moment, and the lives of many others for that matter; I do not want to explain more:

"A single orator, who often did not even appear in public, but merely circulated his written composition, made a speech, which no one opposed, on topics which were apparently uncontroversial and without practical consequences. Whether it be a funeral eulogy, the eulogy of a city for the benefit of its inhabitants, or a speech on some subject devoid of current interest, such as the praise of a virtue or of a god, the audience, according to the theoreticians, merely played the part of spectators.

After listening to the speaker, they merely applauded and went away" (p. 48)