Let’s be honest. We have not debated war and peace, capitalism and socialism, or even surveillance and privacy. More than anything else, we have simply obsessed about the psychopathic freak show that is the Trump campaign.

Let the historians of the future know that the great Trump-Clinton contest of 2016 was much like the famous Seinfeld pitch to NBC: it’s a show about nothing.

In that sense, we have to recognize something profound about this point in time. The blame is not entirely on the candidates or the campaigns, or even on our own shallow nature.

For this is an election at a time of relative peace and prosperity. Yes, it’s true: peace and prosperity. And our failure to admit the obvious is hurting our ability to sustain an adult conversation about our politics.

If you haven’t already pressed the publish button on your comments below, or tweeted your outrage to the world, it’s time to consider the facts.