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As has been seen in other countries whose democracies have collapsed to authoritarianism and fascism, such anticipatory obedience and other acts of surrender and supplication will, at best, offer only temporary and illusory safety.

Decades of relying on the rules of an ostensible meritocracy, however, have proven one thing: that it's an illusory social ideal.

But the president again expressed the hope — which some analysts call illusory — that immigrant contributions would temper Trump’s deportation agenda.

This will supposedly guarantee that the United States forever remains the pre-eminent global superpower, and that a self-serving conception of the "national interest" will always take precedence over ill-defined or illusory global concerns.

However, Paul Kohler, the Liberal Democrat MP for Wimbledon, believes the projected benefits are "utterly illusory".