Henry,

Can’t thank you enough for checking out my work.

Morris Berman hugely influenced this piece (and is honestly one of the best writers I’ve ever read). I discovered his work in 2012, and when I shared the content of his writings with others, they dismissed me as being a negativist. Now, the same people who called me a maniac for thinking that America is on the path of dissolution are starting to agree with me.

I didn’t read WAF (I read the first book in the trilogy) but I find the premise to be correct. I didn’t include those insights into the piece because I wanted to keep it short and sweet. But I do believe Morris is correct that American mythology has been turned into a religion, and people are ignoring the weighty evidence that America is irreversibly declining because “American exceptionalism” is deeply woven into their personalities and worldview. Accepting that America is “down for the count” would force them to undertake the difficult journey of accepting the world as it really is and not as they wish it was.

I’ll check out resilience.org a little later. Thanks for writing in, best of luck to you!