As long as everyone looked
Like them, believed and
Behaved similarly,
They were happy.
It was only when
People they were not
Familiar with started
Appearing in the neighborhood
That rumors started to spread
About how the new arrivals
Were going to take over and
Destroy their way of life.
Each day her dollar
Buys less and less,
Each expected and
Unexpected expense
Gobbling up a larger
Slice of an already
Meager pie, leaving
Nothing but debt,
Deprivation.
They’ve lost everything
And been told it’s the fault of
People who are not like them.
They revolt in anger,
Lashing out at a perceived
Enemy that doesn’t exist,
Ignoring the malefactors
In their midst, trying
To hurt someone back for
What they’ve endured,
Supporting opportunists
Promising to alleviate
Their chronic pain,
Misinterpreting who really
Did this to them.
He still remembers the
Dark outline above him,
His mother by the door,
As he was mercilessly
Lashed for some minor,
Random infraction.
Barely making it through
High school, too many
Anxieties roiling through
His mind, he vows to
Do something so others don’t
Have to go through what he did.
He follows a career path that
Puts him in a position of
Authority and power; he feels
It course through his system,
The ability to control others,
Punish with impunity.
They know that suffering
People are rendered much
More docile when their attention
Is diverted by keeping
Them continually entertained.
If they’re staring at screens
All day, they won’t have the
Time to look behind the curtain
And realize they’ve been
Deliberately mislead.
Compliance encouraged through
Diversion, careful redirection
Of pain and passion,
Numbing thought and activity,
Uprising neutralized.
It’s not so hard to become a
Failed state, just make sure
That those who are in power
Don’t care a whit for the
Most vulnerable in society or
Anyone who didn’t have the
Benefit of being born into
Privilege. Systematically
Weaken vital institutions
That actually help regular
People and then screech about
How government doesn’t work.
Do everything in your power
To make sure nothing functions
For anyone but the rich and
That the less fortunate are
Methodically expressed like
Ripe grapes, their juices
Flowing into bulging coffers
While smug swindlers fly to
Some far-away vacation paradise.
From a place of peace,
It appears as if some
Kind of psychoses has
Taken hold where amity
Is dismissed in favor of
Base instinct, a
Miasma of fear and hate
Simmering just below
Explosion, hallucination
Induced by unhealed pain,
Dearth of understanding,
Absence of love,
Scarcity of courage.
The depths of their
Depravity is predictably
Revealed—they never really
Cared for anyone but themselves
And their own kind but always
Tried to put some kind of
Benevolent face on it.
They show their support for
A dictator in waiting,
Someone who makes their
Broken psyches throb with delight.
Government isn’t some
Scary monster out to
Eat you and your children,
It’s merely a reflection
Of its citizens’ priorities.
We can decide that
Altruism is important
In a civilized society,
Or that we are
Just snarling creatures
Fighting each other
For survival,
Guarding our dens.
