Ever since Fox made news a branded commodity, we have been a bifurcared nation, with a large minority living an alternate reality.

The problem is more complex than that, of course, and “credit” should be given to religious fundamentalism, information overload, and antiintellectualism, among other factors.

You raise some good points regarding the psychological reality of modern life, but I think your thesis — that we avoid truth because truth sucks right now — oversimplifies the origins of our post-truth culture.