Our American Delusion-- A Guest Post From Stannous Fluoride

"Civilization, or that which is so called, has operated two ways to make one part of society more affluent and the other part more wretched than would have been the lot of either in a natural state." -- Thomas Paine

We live in a delusionary society.

One created and fostered by the so-called "American Dream."

Americans believe that if they work hard, do the right thing, obey ethical laws (that only apply to the non-elites) that they too (or at least their descendants) can work their way to the top.

The powers that be do their very best to encourage these delusions even as they enact laws and policies that ensure that will never actually happen.

In Europe the average person seems to feel that it is more important that everyone has enough rather than that they have more than their neighbor.

When people get restless the oligarchs point the finger of blame at other people at the bottom: people of color, immigrants, poor people, or anyone who might actually have the brains to point out their crimes. Creating conflict between people who should be allies by telling them that 'those people' want to take away what little they have.

They disseminate disinformation and create astroturf movements like the Tea Party whose entire raison d'être is to distract people from their crimes.

In the end the struggle becomes one of greed versus democracy and alas it seems things will have to become much worse before people rise up and overthrow the tyrants who are the actual cause of their suffering.