Over the past several years, since the mid-2010s, America and Americans have gone through astonishing, unprecedented political, geopolitical, societal, and cultural changes. BLM, Antifa, transgenders, diversity equity inclusion, Trump derangement syndrome, rigged elections, an “insurrection,” COVID crackdowns, vaccine mandates, assaults on free speech, political persecutions and prosecutions, mainstream media propaganda, the merger of state and corporate power, and reckless involvement in foreign wars that threaten to launch World War III. These events raise serious doubts about the sanity of the U.S. and Western elites who are driving the changes, and they point to the precipitous decline of America and its “Empire of Lies,” as Vladimir Putin has labeled it. Chicago-based freelance educational writer and political commentator A.J. Smuskiewicz has carefully observed it all. He has evaluated, re-evaluated, and documented his evolving perspectives on the national and international chaos in this collection of essays, compiled from his published works during the momentous period of 2014 to 2024. The essays offer his unique, distinctly personal insights on the profound issues of the day (and some not-so-profound issues), with an unusual, highly individualistic mix of Right and Left ideas, of conservative, libertarian, and revolutionary radical views. Smuskiewicz compiled this collection as America was in the midst of another wild and weird election season—with one candidate facing possible imprisonment, a second candidate apparently struggling with dementia, and a third candidate posing a threat to both. Where could America and the world be headed? These essays will help to give you the background knowledge and frame of reference you need to understand and deal with whatever the hell is going to happen in this Empire of Lies.