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Musings

American Psychosis

American Psychosis - Chris Hedges on the US empire of narcissism and psychopathy [Image credit: Mr. Fish]
American Psychosis - 2017 Chris Hedges documentary on the US empire of narcissism and psychopathy - more relevant now than ever.
[Image credit: Mr. Fish]

The corporate state, hostile or indifferent to the plight of the citizens, has no emotional pull among the public. It is often hated. Political candidates run not as politicians but as celebrities. Campaigns eschew issues to make people feel good about candidates and themselves. Ideas are irrelevant. Emotional euphoria is paramount. The voter is only a prop in the political theater. Politics is anti-politics. It is reality television. Trump proved better at this game than his opponents. It is a game in which fact and knowledge do not matter. Reality is what you create. We were conditioned for a Trump. (emphasis added)

That is an excerpt from Chris Hedges’ 2017 Truthdig article, American Psychosis, itself a prelude to his 2017 (15-min) mini-documentary, AMERICAN PSYCHOSIS (embedded below), reposted to YouTube on September 11, 2026 by Wombat City Studios.

War is a mere continuation of politics by other means.

Clausewitz, On War (1832) as translated by Google Translate

Tomorrow is Midterm Election Day, and I believe the aforementioned excerpt (and article) is more relevant today than ever before. Try as we may, we cannot vote our way out of a problem we’ve been conned and behaved our way into. Or, in the words of Richard John Neuhaus:

Politics is chiefly a function of culture, at the heart of culture is morality, and at the heart of morality is religion.

Put another way, also attributed to Neuhaus:

Culture is the root of politics, and religion is the root of culture.

The Apotheosis of Washington, on the ceiling of the Capitol Rotunda, the icon of our American Civil Religion
The Apotheosis of Washington, on the ceiling of the Capitol Rotunda; the icon of our American Civil Religion

We are suffering from a rot, not unanticipated, but planned and orchestrated. Yet, we all remain culpable. It is the inevitable result of our American Civil Religion – which most, ironically have never heard of, and yet, are religiously devoted to. The emblematic image: The Apotheosis of Washington, on the ceiling of the Capitol Rotunda – a very ungodly depiction of George Washington having ascended to god-like status, an anti-Biblical Theosophical concept.

psychosis: [noun] An acute or chronic mental state marked by loss of contact with reality…

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

We are indeed a society gone (largely driven) mad, psychotic. The Author of all things Reality is the Lord God Almighty. We would do well to honor Him, give thanks, return to His word, and invite the Holy Spirit into all circumstances and aspects of life. May we come to our senses and repent… if it isn’t too late…