You believe you're in control. Hands firm on the wheel, eyes ahead, heart full of conviction—steering, deciding, guiding your course. But the truth? The wheel is frozen. The illusion of choice keeps you invested. You feel motion, you sense agency, but the path is fixed. No matter how you grip it, how furiously you turn—it does not matter. The endpoint is already chosen. It makes no difference who’s in the driver’s seat, when the wheel doesn’t move. And the cruelest trick? You're allowed to _believe_ you’re steering. --- **// A reflection on elections, power, and the theater of democracy.** \- John McAffee