the chaos section

Independent Essays on Politics, Power, Culture, and the Human Condition

By Mike Cone

Hollow Mockery: Douglass, Jefferson, and 250 Years of a Promise Unkept

“Your 4th of July is a sham; your boasted liberty, an unholy license . . . your shouts of liberty and equality, hollow mockery.”
— Frederick Douglass (1852)

July 9, 2026 in 3) Politics, By Mike Cone.

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About TCS
Founded in Austin, TX, in 2012, The Chaos Section is a collaborative writing project with contributors from all corners of the country. Each writer brings a unique perspective, offering insights into a wide range of topics. This site isn’t here to focus on one person’s interests, but to explore the ideas and musings of the people who fascinate us.

Thanks for joining us on this ride.

Obligatory Disclaimer: The views expressed by our authors are their own and don’t necessarily reflect the opinions of their fellow writers or The Chaos Section community. Then again, sometimes they do. Life’s unpredictable like that.

“We were angry and righteous in those days, and there were millions of us. We kicked two chief executives out of the White House because they were stupid warmongers. We conquered Lyndon Johnson and we stomped on Richard Nixon… Our tribe was strong like a river. That river is still running. All we have to do is get out and vote, while it’s still legal, and we will wash those crooked warmongers out of the White House.”
— Hunter S. Thompson,
Rolling Stone, November 11, 2004

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“Chaos is what we've lost touch with. This is why it is given a bad name. It is feared by the dominant archetype of our world, which is Ego, which clenches because its existence is defined in terms of control.”
- Terence McKenna, attributed

"In the end, McKenna, the Stoics, Buddhists, Taoists, and Heraclitus are all pointing us toward the same truth: to live fully, we must learn to dance with chaos, not run from it. We must let go of our rigid need for control and open ourselves to the wild, untamed, and unpredictable flow of life. Only then can we truly understand the deeper currents that shape our existence, the very sections of life where chaos and order intertwine."
- The Fear of Letting Go: Ego’s Struggle for Control

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