• The saccharine artifice of Las Vegas and Reno are monuments to the spirit of Contemporary America. The first is a complete invention, a fiction brought to life by enterprising men who were either entirely duped by the pretend virtues
• preached by the elites, or were part of the hypocritical elites who invented a self-justifying system that kept them on top. Las Vegas is a consumer paradise built like Dubai --- a complete affront to co-existence with the very planet
• that enables our existence. The second is more of a travesty --- in the distance is a vista of mountains, not as grand as the alps true, but spectacular in its own way --- but the environments here pretend nature doesn't exist, and
• corral you in manufactured concrete and LED, layered with gatekeeping and permits and id cards and RFID readers for the privilege of entering their electornic hell. The slot machines beep away and the people sitting in front of them
• are trapped in invisible Skinner boxes that force them to keep pushing the buttons. Disgust and contempt best describe how I feel.