by P.F. Kelly, Jr., American Thinker:

Imagine you are a mouse — a placid little creature — living in a labyrinth.  You don’t know it’s a labyrinth; it’s just where you live.  You follow a well worn path, meandering along, chasing the red button.  The red button provides you with food or whatever makes you happy.

But you’ve started to notice that things are changing.  It’s not as good as it used to be in the labyrinth, not as easy to get to the button.  And the payoff when you get there isn’t as good anymore.  You’re anxious, but you’re not sure what to do.  You’re starting to wonder about things.  It’s been dawning on you that following the path isn’t getting you anywhere, and you may even be going backwards.