Out of all the choices
Available to them,
This being a country
Where people actually
Have that luxury,
They decide that hurting
Human beings is
The best they can do,
As if someone told them
That the world is a
Horrible, dark place
Where others are
Out to get you unless you
Destroy them first.
In an enormously wealthy
Nation, cruelty exists
As a pastime relished by
Malefactors with nothing
Better to do than
Step on another neck
To feel better about
Themselves for a moment
While deliriously rolling in
Stacks of money,
Reminding themselves and
Their accomplices how much
Better they are than
Those other people.
You can’t build a thriving,
Egalitarian, democratic society
If you set it up to favor
Only one group at the expense of
All others. Once you’ve given
Every advantage to one segment of
The population, it’s disingenuous
To purport that, because one or two
Of the non-chosen ones succeed,
Equal opportunity actually exists;
Those are the exceptions to the
System you’ve created to make sure
Only certain people prosper.
Seduced by its
Enticing allure,
He’ll go to any length
To possess it,
Feel it permeate his being,
Cradle him in the comfort of
Knowing he’s above others,
Holding their fate in his hands,
Able to extinguish their lives
If he wishes – mesmerizing,
Intoxicating, dehumanizing.
So, it happens again,
And again, and another
Time, the unthinkable
Becoming commonplace.
Platitudes will be
Uttered half-heartedly,
Betraying the truth.
They’ll do nothing
To protect us,
The all-powerful dollar
Feeds their all-consuming
Lust for power.
Keeping women down,
They call it tradition.
Telling them what to do
With their bodies.
Condemning them to
Second-class status.
Piety used as an
Excuse to subjugate.
If they’re on top then
Someone’s at the bottom.
I have the misfortune of
Watching a video of him
Giving a talk to an approving
Audience where he smugly
Suggests that there is
Nothing more to destroying a
Caring individual than to
Change the argument,
Cast the kind person as evil,
And then ride in to save
The day with shockingly
Simplistic and disingenuous
Schemes that hurt people.
A significant, sad number of
Individuals in the vastly
Wealthy nation declare
That providing health care
For all human beings is
Ridiculous, that the
Well-being of each person is
A privilege and not a right,
That the common good is but a
Quaint idea dreamed up by
Soft, delusional weirdos who
Don’t understand that all
That matters is helping the
Wealthy prosper while
Cheering perpetual war
And laughing at the poor.
Killing the arts,
Heavy-handed plot to
Silence dissent.
Stifle creativity,
Gag the rabble-rousing
Subversives.
Suppress contradictory
Voices challenging
Authority.
No one left to
Speak uncomfortable truths.
They have won, and lost.
