Vulnerability can be a wonderful thing until it isn’t.  In order to enjoy life one must be vulnerable to the delicate inputs of joy’s networks because if you aren’t open to joy, eventually you become numb. The question is being asked in the news around the country; why are Americans so unhappy right now? The answer is pretty easy; we are vulnerable to things we can no longer trust.  We thought we could control our globally much envied lives and suddenly the signs are we don’t have either trust or control.  Chaos is not a friend to the human condition.  Influencers and motivational speakers may speak about the opportunities of chaos in a romantic fashion, but upon a closer look, most to them have not personally experienced the deep chaos of mental illness, war, poverty, sustained social unrest or existential uncertainty.  Basically they are blowing smoke.  We have been so fogged we accidentally placed the master of true chaos in the highest office, and within one year and upon reflection, it doesn’t feel right or good. He feeds illusions of distraction, which work for a few months, but then reality relentlessly shoulders its way back into first place.

Perhaps we think we can deal with the national depression and pessimism through political activism alone, but politics are the last indicator of breakdown long in process. Americans have long lost a great deal more than ‘global first place’.  Yes, we have to resist the present status quo politically, but just as importantly we have to ask ourselves what within us allowed us to waste so much wealth and advantage over 50 years only to find ourselves humiliated today. This writer suspects many of us may have lost our secular and spiritual footing and the vultures promoting nationalized religion are beginning to gather in the sky above us.  They want to harvest the chaos of the moment by baking critical spirituality, purpose and meaning into just another method of delusional control.

Modest Proposal for Good

There was a time when we could easily distinguish reality from entertainment, but that simple age is over. Authentic reality for this moment is only reliably found now in the direct mental and sensual experience of the physical universe.  Virtual Reality is not real. VR paired AI is now the new meta-illusion trickster that quickly becomes meta-delusion just as soon as it acquires an agenda.  Authentic reality, even though occasionally hard to endure, is a sensual, eye to eye, skin-to-rock-dirt-stream- mountain experience of life and life’s movements.   As for religion, the purpose of the pulpit is not to tell you how to vote, but it most certainly could be to offer reality based reference points to help make your conscience and sense of good be your guides in making good decisions in daily life. Get real, for the grand delusion of America’s greatness is breaking down.  Reducing chaos and returning to the authentic reality of life on earth and in nature would be good.

.