The mundane world offers little room for dreams. Humans exist in a reality that they can explain rationally, but still cannot understand. All the “great” institutions conspire to tell them that the good die young, the brave come home in boxes, and that only the financially strong survive. Dreams — such as they are — come in sanitized, pre-programmed packages: the corporate dream, the jet-set dream, the dream of retirement and the virtual dream.

For most people, dreams are a luxury they cannot afford. The young have nothing to look forward to except unemployment or, if they're lucky, meaningless jobs that pay minimum wage. When a military career looks attractive, things are dull, indeed. The old must deal with unfulfilled lives and a society that turns its back on them. Even those who have it made — CEOs, rock stars, drug lords, politicians — are surrounded by tawdriness and mundanity. The high aspirations that once fueled human achievement and creativity have degenerated into the lowest common expectations.