An Expose of American Systemic Pacification

A brutally honest critique of modern American life, dissecting how control in the 21st century comes not through force, but through manipulation of thought, emotion, and perception.

Do you know what I find worst about being an American? Knowing that there are people living in squalor on this planet, struggling to survive, and exploited on a scale most of us can’t even imagine - just so we Americans can have anything we want. And in turn, we - as Americans - have been denied the things that make life worth living, just to carve a hole inside us that no amount of purchased goods can fill. So we buy, and we buy, trying to fill that emptiness. And all of this is by design - the ultra-rich want to own the world.

It gets worse. Those things that they do hand us - things we think are essential - they’ve weaponized into mechanisms of control.

Organized religion is one of the most effective. And to be clear, this isn’t a condemnation of individual spirituality. Personal belief, introspection, and the search for meaning can be powerful and grounding. But organized religion - the institution - is something else entirely. It demands obedience, discourages critical thought, and shifts justice to the afterlife so injustice can flourish now. It teaches people to accept suffering, see it as noble, and blame themselves for their pain. While personal spirituality can be liberating, organized religion is designed to pacify and control. It exists not to serve the soul, but to serve power.

Psychotropic medication is another. Some people truly need it, and when properly prescribed, it can be life-saving. But now it’s overprescribed - to the point of dependency - not to help us heal, but to keep us manageable. We’re not facing a mental health crisis because millions of people just happen to be mentally ill; we’re facing it because the system manipulates people into neglecting themselves - physically, emotionally, and spiritually - and they become mentally unwell. But rather than addressing the conditions that wear people down - chronic stress, isolation, financial fear - we medicate the response. Their experience isn’t a disorder - it’s a warning. But we’ve been taught to silence it, not to listen. The goal isn’t about healing - it’s compliance.

Distraction is the third. Occasional enjoyment, entertainment, and escape are human. But what we face now is not occasional - it’s a flood. An endless stream of curated content, performative concern, shallow stimulation, and manufactured outrage. These distractions are not designed to delight - they’re designed to mislead, misattribute problems, consume attention, fragment focus, and block reflection. We’re trained to crave novelty and fear stillness, because stillness creates space for awareness. And awareness is dangerous to those who profit from the chaos. Distraction isn’t just entertainment - it’s anesthesia. We don’t resist, we don’t reflect, and we don’t ask why we feel so empty.

This is what control looks like in the modern world - not chains, not cages, but influence over the way we think, feel, and interpret our own suffering. We are sold comfort, medicated into submission, and distracted into apathy, all while believing we are free. The truth is harder: we are being managed. The first step toward real freedom is learning to recognize it. Then we must stand up for ourselves.

Reviews

[...Relic...]

I really like this. And it's all true. Great writing.