Facing Reality attempts to force into view data that many Americans would rather not acknowledge. These are not data that foster peace of mind, because they disrupt the delusion that there are easy answers to hard problems or scapegoats we can drive from the village to restore purity and order. But we are not a society in a state of equanimity as it is. Serenity evades us as long as we build upon a foundation of lies. Screaming about injustice, spreading the blame to others less fortunate than ourselves, or denying it outright will not bring us peace, help the less privileged, or fortify our fragile republic. We can deny reality. We can ignore the demands of the future. But we’re accelerating rapidly toward a time when we’ll have to face reality with 21st-century solutions to our problems.