All the life has been sucked out of our economy in the last few decades, and somehow we do not know what to do about it. Maybe that is because we are socialized into accepting our lives in modern society as an endless series of over-controlled disasters. By the time you get to the end of the day, you are so stressed out and tired that you have no energy for changing the world.

As Hurricane Matthew dissipated and we all realized it was not as bad as predicted, we were relieved. Did we feel anger at the governor and the press for over-predicting the storm? No – how could we? It is a blessing to live in a modern technocratic society where you get immediate warnings and helpful advice – none of our ancestors had that kind of privilege. Next time a storm comes, will we decide not to worry because the media and politicians might be over-hyping it? No – we will not take any chances if at all possible. 

The premise of this two-part blog post is that this presidential campaign has outdone every other. This time, the altered reality has already transpired and the election itself will be an anti-climax of sorts. Last time we discussed the already-accomplished apotheosis of Hillary Clinton. Believe it or not, today we investigate the strangest secret of contemporary presidential politics: the serial resurrection of one Donald J. Trump.

In the dome of the Capitol building in Washington, D.C., there is a painting called The Apotheosis of George Washington. The significance of this work of art cannot be underestimated. At the very least it represents a tribute to Washington for denying himself the crown and opting instead to become a chief executive officer of our newly incorporated USA. He would be the President, and he would serve a restricted term, to be replaced in an institutionalized election that ensured a continually revolving wheel of democratic and republican virtue. After all, a true republic is at its heart a democratic institution.

Over the years, people like Bostrom, Smoot, Kurzweil and many others, have claimed that based on statistical probability theory - this is like a Drake-equation argument - it is not unreasonable to assume that an advanced society with tremendous computer sophistication has already, or could one day probably, and more than likely, create such holographic simulations. They say in all likelihood this will eventually apply to us as well.