… First, in he deserts and veldts arose oral culture, the culture of the spoken word. Then in the cities with their temples and bazaars came the pictographs, and later, symbols that produced sounds as if by magic, and what followed was written culture. Then, in the universities and under the steeples of young nations, print culture. These–oral culture, written culture, the culture of print–these have always been considered the great epochs of man.
But we have entered a new age. We are a new people. It is now the age of oneiric culture, the culture of dreams.
And we are the nation of dreams. We are seers. We are wizards. We speak in visions. Our letters are like flocks of doves, released from under our hats. We have only to stretch out our hand and desire, and what we wish for settles like a kerchief in our palm. We are a race of sorcerers, enchanters. We are Atlantis. We are the wizard-isle of Mu.
What we wish for, is ours.
It is the age of oneiric culture. And we, America, we are the nation dreams.
From Feed by M.T. Anderson. You may need to at least read a bit about the story for some context to understand what I’m getting at here. It’s not irony or sarcasm… it’s just the truth.