While a minority of Americans are taken in by watered down accounts of liberty, equality, and representation, the majority of Americans become increasingly estranged from the political professionals. These Americans try to make themselves heard, but find that political action doesn’t get results. They vote for protest candidates and reward apparent displays of authenticity, but these strategies accomplish nothing. Worn down by failure, they retreat from politics into a series of enclaves—faith, family, fandoms, and futurism. To extract political activity from these deactivated Americans, political professionals politicize seemingly private spaces. Religious professionals use faith to do politics, family life becomes precarious as the economic situation deteriorates, and cultural antagonisms are projected into fandoms. Futurism becomes a vehicle for tech oligarchs. As Americans try to escape the disappointing political system, they find they can run, but they can’t hide. The system adapts, finding ways to turn political despair into political action. In this way, American citizens become a kind of American subaltern, possessing the essential appearance of citizenship without the capacity to actualize the political potential promised by that appearance. The chapter closes with an extended metaphor featuring hot air balloons.