United in Delusion

If America is addicted to anything, it's delusion.

I'll start with the good news: We're in recovery.

Albeit the beginning stages, we are slowly starting to recover from our mischievous and ultimately damaging learned behaviors as a nation.

It is the middle of the night. America is fast asleep, a time when we are closest to the truth, yet never safe from the nightmare that awaits us in the morning. The sun rises. The eastern half of the mainland is the first to be greeted by hardened delusions made callous over centuries and built on the convenience of mendacity. These delusions never sleep. They are deeply ensconced in the DNA of our collective unconscious. This New World, still searching for its bravery, is, demographically, a far cry from the days of its original sin. We look more now like an amalgamation of the many ethnicities, creeds, and cultures that inhabit the earth. Diversity is our culture; color, our delusion.

From inner city neighborhoods to tree lined streets of the suburbs; middle America to the country's congested outskirts; homeless shelters to our First Black Family in the White House; the comfort of social media to the comfort of our own households; citizens to undocumented immigrants; with each passing day, we are all forced to break our addiction to delusion.

The freak show that is our current presidential election proves to be stunning evidence of our breakdown of delusions. Like any addiction, it must first be acknowledged before we overcome it. This is why Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton became the major party nominees. It did not happen in vain. Trump was brilliantly ushered into the forefront of our political stage as a looking glass reflecting America's jarring impurities, while Hillary tests our trust of the establishment.

Obama's eight- year presidency showed us a glimpse of what progress looks like, while unearthing deep rooted racism still planted throughout the country. The latter has shown up in many forms.

Bush Jr.'s eight years disintegrated the delusion that, in America, our freedoms are bulletproof.

We are not the only ones invested in the breakdown of our delusions. Malignant tumors of the world, in the form of other countries and terrorist organizations are eagerly waiting in the wings to demolish the delusions that our power is indestructible and that we are not at all complicit in the terror that shows up at our front door.

We are addicted to delusion because like any addiction, it affords us the transient luxury of avoiding reality.

On January 20th, 2017, when the next leader of the free world is sworn in, we will either be in danger of relapse or continue on the road to hard-won sobriety.