In the event of an emergency, don't panic.

With the rise of the tea party, and politicians decrying spending, there has been a resounding call to look to the Constitution.  That's very interesting because there are not many details on how to deal with the types of problems we face today.  In fact, one of the main catalysts for writing the Constitution was the uprising known as Shays' Rebellion.  Much of the Constitution relates to property owners' rights and the demands of the wealthy and ensuring that another Shays' Rebellion could not happen again.

So as usual (SNAFU), we're being bamboozled, cuckolded, because the politicians who are directing us to the Constitution must not realize what the main job of the government is according to the Constitution: the federal government is to tax and spend.  As Bill Maher points out in New Rules, "Stop calling them tax and spend liberals.  It's the government. That's what they do."  

Sometimes myth is more potent than reality, imagination more vivid than fact.  It is in this simple understanding of our ability to perceive the world that our repeated poor decisions make sense.   Thus, Ronald Reagan becomes a hero.

Superficially, the power of myth transcending reality is manifested in the political race that was recently decided or the Wisconsin Supreme Court race that now seems to have been decided.  People vote based entirely on myth.

But our myths are stronger than that.  People believe in gods and are willing to die for their faith.  In America, we are all clinging to the fantasy that our politicians desire to help us.  And that by helping us, we too can improve our lot in life.  There is a reason this has been called a dream.  It is just that, a dream, a fantasy, a myth.  Humans hold their myths dear.  They covet them more than gold and silver.  And so the startling realization that most of the politicians are working for themselves will not change voting patterns.  The fact that a judge who calls the chief justice a bitch and threatens to destroy her can win a public election seals the deal.  People are happier in their myths than in reality.  And that seems uncanny since one of the most popular forms of television shows now is "reality TV." 

The only principle that seems to be at work in America in a plausible form is this: if you can look around and honestly affirm that you are not screwing someone over, then someone is most definitely screwing you over.