American Narrative Vs. American Reality
There is no doubt in my mind that the U.S. Empire is falling, my only question is “Will it take the rest of the world with it?” The contradictions of the U.S. Empire are too great to hold it all together. Most importantly, the distance between the story that keeps America together and the reality of what America has become is so extreme that the two can never be put back together again.
Truth and narrative are never the same thing, but a functioning society has a narrative in place that hews somewhat closely to the reality. If reality deviates too far from the narrative, the contradiction becomes so jarring that either the narrative has to be rewritten or the reality must be changed to once again align with the narrative.
As an example, slavery was a glaring reality that was in sharp contrast with the U.S. narrative that it was the home of the free. This contrast was literally tearing our country apart. Since the idea that all men are created equal was written into the very beginning of the story of America, our only choice was to do away with the institution of slavery. This never made all men (let alone women) equal, but it was enough to keep the narrative and reality within a tolerable proximity for the majority of people. The narrative of a free country again forced us to bring reality more into accord in later decades, starting with a slow push…