I really enjoyed your thoughts here. I remember reading a chapter in a history book about the 1980s that described how during the Reagan years political rhetoric went from the "shared sacrifice" of the Cold War to the promise of a happy ending.

Marshall McLuhan's old adage about the medium being the message is as apt today as ever. Movie stars and reality TV impressarios are used to getting top billing and being the hero of the show.

Magical thinking has been embedded in the American experiment since the beginning. Many settlers were lured by advertizers promises of unlimited bounty. We rarely confront the downsides of our "White utopias" and whose backs they were built upon.

The work of transformation may be the task of the next several generations. Thank you for reminding us that there are no quick fixes.