Biden finally jumps in....

[Alan V]

We worship wealth and celebrity.

We treat politics like entertainment.

We seem to be determined to aggressively prove that democracy doesn't work.

We are a nation of posers. We want someone who will pay lip service to all the right things, but won't actually change anything.

If we really are as bad as you say, we are already hopeless.  What is the purpose of calling us hopeless?

I didn't say that we are hopeless. I don't know that we are hopeless. A made some critical statements about us that are true. Fixing a problem begins with acknowledging the problem. That's the point of making critical statements that are true.

I don't agree that any of your claims are true because they are all over-statements.  You should address specifics and give credit where credit is due.

Here is how I would restate what you wrote:

Wealth and celebrity are entertaining. Few people worship either because they don't take them that seriously.

Because politics is a different word game than ordinary exchanges, it's a ripe target for levity.

Democracy has always had the tendency to be warped by group thinking. It's still better than the other options.

We are a nation of people who strive to be better than we can be realistically, too often because we have been sold some bill of goods.