Too often we mistake persistence for strength. Because we have been we will always be. A pleasant status quo we extrapolate past the horizon. “I never get sick,” said a friend, now suffering. “America will last forever,” many chirruped less than a decade ago.

We should teach fragility. But parents are reluctant to alarm junior with dire probabilities. “Nothing bad will ever happen to you, promise.” Humans have gotten especially adroit explaining away death. Is there a religion that doesn’t portray death as a comforting conclusion? Consciousness knows otherwise. Consciousness recoils from death as the most comfortless of outcomes, as the body shies from an awakened venomous snake. But we tell and sing stories that transform this sourest of lemons into the sweetest lemonade.

I suppose this is OK for kids. I’ve done it in my time – and will continue with my grandkids. It’s hard not to promise “Everything will be OK,” knowing one’s lying through one’s teeth. But shouldn’t grownups grow up and wake up?

America is in trouble. Who can doubt it? We’ve got an old sick guy in charge who falls fast asleep at public events, babbles incoherently, marches us off to wars we can’t win without asking anybody’s say-so (except his lickspittles’), insults our friends if they differ from him, cozies with our enemies if they bribe him, is teasing us down a road to ruin fast. These warning signs aren’t closely held secrets, subject to dispute. They’re out there – every day – every day worse – and “America will last forever”? “Everything will be OK”?

Yes, I’m woke – we all should be. We’re sick, getting sicker, and ever more at risk of imminent death. For the sake of our kids – and their kids – let’s not act like kids. Wake up!