have had a huge effect on us all. Our political reality is shaped by those concepts. In a lot of ways, we're still living in the Middle Ages. We have the wealthy aristocracy, who are favored by God and charged with ruling the world, and we have the serfs, who do the heavy lifting and pay the consequences for all the bad decisions of the wealthy.
It's easy to see where Calvinism came from and how modern capitalism has become the mirror image of Calvinism in secular life. Our movies and much of our mainstream art often depict benevolent rulers (the elect) who are protected from the forces of evil by flawed servants who, in the end, prove their loyalty and presumably earn their place among the elect.
We are surrounded by dualistic concepts every day, and in a variety of places. God and Satan are the root of much of Western art and everyday life, and I think that's especially true in the U.S., which is the predominant military power in the world. You're with us or against us. Join us and see heaven; go against us and burn in hell. For a country that's supposed to be secular, we have allowed religious ideas to permeate our views on life. Religion has always been a successful way to control the masses, and these times aren't much different than times past.
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