Great piece. I'm not quite ready to give up on our form of democracy yet (I say our form because as a commenter notes below, we really have never had a democracy, but I don't think anyone has since the fall of ancient Athens). We must get the lies out of politics, and the money, and maybe political parties altogether, if we are to avoid total collapse. https://medium.com/illumination-curated/can-we-please-all-find-the-space-within-which-to-breathe-the-same-air-and-agree-not-to-agree-6b6b2c8077ec That people cannot see that the oligarchs have been mounting a 1930's style fascist cold-propaganda-war on the rest of us for 50 years, and that that war is now overt, and that if we do end up in a dictatorship it will only be a matter of time "till they [come] for me," is very disturbing. Yet as you say, none of it really matters. I will find my contentment within, happiness from time to time, and maybe will be allowed to script my next incarnation along with my fellow travelers in a more pleasant time and society. https://medium.com/illumination-curated/life-is-school-for-the-soul-9b081dbe8453

I do worry about my kids though.