The American Disease

Jay Gatsby had it. The Great Gatsby would never have been written without it.

You don't have to be American to fall victim to it; I've seen it strike citizens of other countries (especially evangelical Christians) and immigrants, too, but who knows? -- Maybe they came to America to escape the consequences of succumbing to the American disease in their home countries.

And there should be consequences, even in America. The problem is -- and has been, maybe for most of our history -- that there are no consequences. Instead, people who have the American disease get a wink and a nod and a good-natured slap on the back for confessing their symptoms, but doing absolutely nothing to change:

Is there any danger?
No, no, not really,
Just lean on me.
Takin' time to treat
Your friends and neighbors honestly.
I've just been fakin' it.

A psychologist would call it Narcissistic Personality Disorder. Simon and Garfunkel just said they were "Fakin' It".