Cognitive Harvest

Our leaders bent the knee to industry Intent to forgive the debtor's due Pursuing profits viciously While the workers languish in a queue Do blue-collars not deserve security? Must the fortunate ceaselessly accrue? We labored with no warranty Just servants toiling to produce their revenue The rentier class commands priority While our many are neglected by their few Members of a long-suffering majority A tinderbox to spark the rebel flame anew

A superdelegate's vote; a shadow of power Cast wide across the face of democracy The working class struggle to seize their hour From the miserly grip of an entitled plutocracy

The powerful demand an implicit supremacy For weighted say and greater sway To define their will as equivalent to destiny Subverting the people's will to get their way

A dangerous game too routinely played Not small in scope of consequence For the longer that justice remains delayed The more the rebel spirit will rise in confluence

Health care in America has been known to do harm Medical bankruptcy has the sick fearing aid Profiteering on sickness never raised an alarm Thanks to lobbyists and legislators they paid

We should not have to go broke in order to not die We should not have to die just because we are poor Universal coverage means we all qualify Single-payer means it is already paid for

No more living in fear over the cost of our wounds No more accepting all these preventable deaths End transfers of wealth to greedy insurance tycoons Health care is a human right, accept nothing less

Alright, this post is going to be a bit different from my typical poetry. I was high and bored and I wrote a political song parody. I can’t sing it, but here are the lyrics:

(Original Song: “A Part of Your World” by Jodi Bensen from Disney’s The Little Mermaid)

Look at this empire Isn't it neat? Wouldn't you think my dominion's complete? Wouldn't you think I'm the one The one who runs ev'rything? Look at my wars Soldiers on tour How many laws can one country ignore? You see me do it and think Sure, I run everything

I've done invasion and regime change aplenty Few have killed unarmed civilians more You want CIA coups? Mine exceed twenty I don't care Let's keep it real I'll do more

I want to be where the resources are I want to take Want to take their oil Strikin' down with those Whad'ya call 'em? Oh -drones Stand up to me you won't get too far Guns are required to protect your oil I'll get you some but not for What's that word again? free

Up at the top Second to none Where the brave wave my flag in the sun Submit to me Know I will be In charge of your world

What would you give If I let you live Outta this slaughter? What would you pay To win the day Seizing enemy land? Bet on my plan If you understand Flies make no demands of the swatter Blank check spending World bank lending As empire expands

There are things I know you don't need to know Don't ask me questions You won't get answers What's a FOIA and what does it What's the word? learn?

Have no concern Freedom I love Love to be free to rule from above Submit to me Know I will be In charge of your world

We are the counter-culture pedigree Rising up on raw rebel energy Tagging "revolution" on every establishment effigy Prescient elegy, death knell of status quo Scarcity and solidarity make a potent combo A prime recipe; fuel to make a movement go To make a movement grow endlessly more massive Class warfare at new heights of combative Plutocrats beware the down and out are active

We are the usurpers of ruling class authority Coalesced discontents fighting for systemic victory Boosting politicians who offer populism and integrity Sick of fuckery, deceit, and corporate greed Unapologetically demanding everything we need Fed up with placation when we have mouths to feed Approaching peak urgency, unity will not suffice If you play hard do not expect us to play nice Profiteers of exploitation prepare to pay the price

Moments are a fleeting currency We spend them much too recklessly Betting on endless longevity But life succumbs to brevity Time is truly our worst enemy We must not waste it senselessly When rising to face the apogee Take pride in spent reality Do not squander seconds too carefree Or risk dying regretfully Be the person that you want to be Create the change you want to see Find a way to truly be happy Then take rest in finality

While the wealthy feast on the lion's share The working class dines on mere table scraps Victims of a system designed to be unfair Despite how high they hoist their bootstraps Never quite able to crack the glass ceiling Which separates the haves from the have-nots Indigents fantasize release from sinking feeling Affluents opaque the floor to secure their lots Forsaking the have-nots to languish in poverty Until the paupers attune to revolution's pitch An alarm blaring the proper solution to scarcity To have their fill the poor must eat the rich

Besotten tribe, don't you dare avert your eyes From the product of your hatred and hypocrisy Never compromised, trailblazing our demise Genuflecting at the altar of autocracy I hold you in complicity, but recognize naivety You yourselves are victims of conditioning Your mind is in captivity, ignorance swallowed faithfully Idolizing demagogues, beguiled, never questioning

Besotten tribe, betrayal is your grand prize The price you pay for the leaders you embraced Ill-advised; electing liars in populist disguise Double down in denial of your trust misplaced Values get disgraced, selling out with great haste Submitting to a callous and vile hegemony Truth defaced, race to the bottom with faster pace Proliferated suffering is your legacy

A prescription only follows an ailment identified We can not treat corruption while allowing it to hide The whistleblower sheds light on misconduct by the state Providing voters information to determine their own fate These are the secrets the public ought to know To hold in check domestic threats cloaked in shadow

Clandestine operations, genocidal occupations Surveilling us all, malicious violators of protocol

The whistleblower is a watchdog; a hero of transparency Absent their courage, blind to malfeasance and errancy Knowledge is power, without which wrongs can't be righted Staying ignorant means the corrupt will never be indicted So honor the whistleblower who risks it all for you Wield their truths as weapons to guide justice through

How long will the war against melanin be waged? A hateful campaign criminalizing the immutable With victims being oppressed, beaten, and enslaved Birthing a two-tiered society entirely indisputable The existence of which will be forever inexcusable

How long will skin color measure quality of life? A superficial determinate of people's resource access Marginalized masses damned to scarcity and strife While privileged whites in red hats chant for regress Faced with pleas for justice they refuse to acquiesce

How long will we go on to tolerate racial imparity? A systemic partiality infringing promised equal rights Highlighted in failures divvying economic prosperity Moral clarity means not being absentee for these fights Our conduct must be reformed when the sufferer indicts

How long will bigoted tribalism be allowed to thrive? A sense of solidarity can be achieved by reparation This nation should uplift instead of serially deprive Ushering an end to race exploitation and segregation Accomplished with authenticity over insincere placation

You can hardly call it one person one vote When winner-take-all takes our voice away Dismissive of the values we desire to promote The Electoral College usurps our only say Despite a majority of total ballots cast A winner can represent an ideological minority So democracy flies its flag at half mast Distressed by the cries of a helpless majority

The worth of every vote should be equal When determining a future president We must fairly represent all of the people Not bestow electoral power to a small percent Only a segment of the electorate is pivotal Swinging elections from a less populous location The result of such a process is unequivocal Some individuals lose their self-determination

The person with fewer ballots should never win Solvable by means of a national popular vote Equality of electoral power; a stable underpin To keep the integrity of our democracy afloat Delegates must not undermine the individual For it is the people the government represents One person one vote is an essential principle One that the Electoral College goes against

So many snowflakes cascade in a never ending blizzard Outrage on display within the psyche of the surveyed Regard displayed for amendment one has withered Can not take criticism now we need reality filtered

Some conservatives say liberals are over policing jokes Fuming at any hint of social backlash or repercussion But if libs dislike the ideology your joke promotes Free speech means nothing is off the table for discussion It may push your buttons, but they got a right to boycott A freedom of protest at the core of this democracy It may be sad to see yourself caught in the onslaught Know you are free to fight back and defend your comedy

Some conservatives say liberals are term tyrants Forcing them to use the pronouns they declare correct No one is going to force your pronouns to compliance Though rebellion may be taken as a lack of respect Do not expect them to cease demand for consideration In a nation filled with privilege and marginalized classes If you believe the notion wrong and feel frustration Express your irritation and try to convince the masses

Some conservatives say liberals should honor Old Glory Continuously nagging to recite a pledge of allegiance How egregious that rising for the anthem is not mandatory If someone kneels in protest there will be grievance Nevermind the malfeasance and racism of the president Instructing not to dissent from institutions of authority You are free to misconstrue what the gesture meant Though your views may not be in line with the majority

I respect the constitutional freedom to say these things That doesn't mean I do not disagree with the contents Outcomes hinge on where the audience's judgment swings But you are free to remain persistent in your arguments

Exceptionalism is inextricable from hypocrisy Arrogance is a force that inhibits self-correction We desire to build a better union through democracy While refusing to recognize our many imperfections

Patriotism does not require ignoring all flaws Harsh critique does not have to mean we hate our nation There are deep faults in our conduct and in our laws We must evolve by means of necessary alteration

Take for example the fight against terrorism How we admonish those we claim enable it to rise Yet our weapon sales to enablers is beyond criticism Why do we only care when it is not us or our allies?

Globally we put profit and control above human welfare Investing billions of tax dollars on foreign occupation We use violence to enforce our interests everywhere When they hate us why do we question the causation?

We demonize foreign governments for democide Our police shoot over nine-hundred civilians yearly Just one of many unsolved crises we have identified How can we be great when failing our people so severely?

Excessive pride is the fertile seed of complacency Now we idle on issues where progress could be made War monopolizes our discretionary budget so wastefully Will we keep allowing our infrastructure to degrade?

American exceptionalism is a long-running ruse An excuse used to not admit our accumulating mistakes If you ask me to say we are exceptional I will refuse I would rather focus on improving these United States