"A Language Older Than Words" uses the lens of domestic violence to look at the larger violence of Western culture. "The Culture of Make Believe" begins by exploring racism and misogyny, then examines how this culture's economic system leads inevitably to hatred and atrocity. "Strangely Like War" is about deforestation. "Walking on Water" is about education (it begins: "As is true for most people I know, I've always loved learning. As is also true for most people I know, I always hated school. Why is that?"). "Welcome to the Machine" is about surveillance and more broadly about science and what Jensen perceives to be a Western obsession with control.