Sophistry and Solipsism

They installed a bookshelf in the faculty lounge And congratulated themselves for Trying to bring us together With a battlefield.

I look for change every week. Some proselytizer Put Dinesh D'Souza on the shelf. I stole into the lounge at night And put D'Souza in the garbage.

I like to see the books nobody wants. Two Dares to Lead, And six Hillbilly Elegies, Gifts from our betters On how we can be better

Looking for survivors, I shelved a copy of Settlers And Labor Law for the Rank and Filer But they haven't moved.

If you could know a single man the way he knows himself Or the safety that a child feels when cradled after pain And every spark of unearned hate and clarifying rage That burns through human history, page by bloody page.

If not one memory Of one man's life Could be taken and concealed

Will I remember, young or old, Your face as you were leaving? Or maybe more, the face you bore At the moment of our meeting?

You stole the food from off my table. You killed a baby rabbit. You sang with my harmonica. You liked to smell of maggots.

You worked hard to smell refined: You liked to roll in refuse. Your teeth were always rotting out, And your muzzle damp with drool.

I'll recall when first I met you: Wandering and hungry. And then again when last I found you: Stiff and cold and empty.

They said if we broke the new rules We would be sued. We would have no backing. And no one to blame but ourselves.

The boss tells us every year, Before he jets off with his family for the month, That we are the beating heart of the school. He laments that there is no money for raises.

We’re supposed to do what we do For passion and praise. It’s uncouth For any of us to expect to be paid For training the next generation of troops.

When Paul’s heart failed, And they cleaned out his office, They were glad to be rid of His grandfathered retirement pay.

At some point they will push the button. God will demand it. Or some billionaire. Same difference.

At the faculty meeting one of my coworkers told everyone a crazy story: They're putting kitty litter in classrooms for the furry students.

The weather is pleasant. It's December 28 in the northern hemisphere. "It's horrifyingly nice outside," I comment. Mom and Dad say they've planted some trees. "You do what you can," they shrug. Soon the army will be securing access to water.

I don't know what narratives my parents are absorbing. They don't watch Fox and think they aren't brainwashed, but they're usually angry at Kim Jong Un. I want them to be angry at people with power.

They've never asked me, but I sometimes wonder if I'll find litter in my classroom after the next school shooting so I can help keep things clean.

Editor's Note: This essay was written earlier in my academic life and is presented here without substantive revision.

When, in the course of human events, a crisis develops which threatens the very well-being of a group of people and even an entire nation, it falls upon them to take action with the intent of preserving their way of life. When the British were unjustly taxing our population we revolted, when we saw the inherent immorality of human slavery, we put a stop to it, and when Hitler was committing genocide via the holocaust, we righteously rose up and smote him. Why, then, do we sit and let this newer calamity go unchecked? I am talking, of course, about the breakdown of family, and more importantly, family values in our nation. Erera (2002) quotes Coontz and Jagger & Wright as saying: Family breakdown - namely the high divorce rates, the decline of the two-parent married family, and the increase in family diversity -- has been blamed for everything from child poverty, declining educational standards, substance abuse, high homicide rates, AIDS (acquired immune deficiency syndrome), infertility, and teen pregnancy.

America is quickly becoming a nation of single mothers, burdens of society themselves, who let their children run wild and become thugs, thieves and drug dealers. Even our nuclear families are letting their children fall by the wayside, becoming alcoholics and addicts. Add to this the growing number of homosexuals and non-Christians who have children, spreading their unwholesome lifestyles and liberalism like the plague, and anyone should be able to see that we, as a nation, must do something. I propose that we institute a new government office, called the Ministry of Family (Minifam for short), which would have several responsibilities in its oversight of the American family. 

The first and main responsibility of the Ministry of Family would be the regulation of pregnancy. In order for a legal pregnancy to occur, the prospective parents would have to go to a Minifam office to acquire a pregnancy permit, which would be good for up to three months and the entirety of pregnancy, should pregnancy occur. There would be specific criteria to be considered before anyone could be approved for such a permit, which would include, but not be limited to: Marriage, proper sexual orientation, biological qualifications, economic status, intent to raise the child in a positive environment, intent to raise the child with a good and morally oriented mindset, positive religious adherence, and positive views on society, politics, and the government. This list could be changed, so that a pregnancy permit is easier to obtain, as it is not necessarily the pregnancy which will determine a child's future. Also, consideration should be made for permanent pregnancy licenses, in case there is a sharp decline in the population.  Upon approval for her permit and during the entirety of her pregnancy, the mother would be interred at a special pregnancy hospital, which would be regulated by Minifam, in order to ensure the well-being of the fetus. At this hospital the mother would be under constant surveillance, her meals and activities would be regulated, and she would be taught the proper way to be a mother and to raise children. She will also be studied for any abnormalities, unwholesome thoughts or ideas which could be detrimental to the  mental or moral health of the child. 

When she is released from this hospital, if she is still deemed fit to be a mother, she will be directed back to her local Minifam office to request that her pregnancy permit be upgraded to a family license. All the above criteria for a pregnancy permit would apply to the family license, however, strict adherence to said criteria is a must, and I do not believe that anything should be removed from the list, as it is intended to weed out those prospective parents who do not have the proper qualifications for raising children who are morally conscious. 

Of all of these qualifications for a family license, marriage is the most important. As Wilson (2002) states, "Marriage is a socially arranged solution for the problem of getting people to stay together and care for children that the mere desire for children, and the sex that makes children possible, does not solve" (pp 376). No unmarried persons shall be granted a family license, although it may be made possible for an unmarried woman to receive a pregnancy permit or license. Marriage is vital to the raising of a family, since no mother shall be permitted to work as long as she is caring for any children who are not of working age. Because mothers will not be working while they are raising their children, all prospective fathers will have to prove to Minifam that they have a steady income of an amount which is deemed sufficient to support a family. Of course, since there will undoubtedly be some cases of illegal pregnancy (which can be terminated if it is deemed that the child has no hope of a decent future due to biological problems) and birth-mothers who are denied their family license upgrade, Minifam will run programs which encourage couples wherein the wife is either unfit for a pregnancy license (due to biological problems) or unable to become pregnant to acquire a non-biological family license. Illegal pregnancy, of course, will be punishable by law, and incur a penalty of no less than two years in prison. Permanent pregnancy licenses should be made available, if only in times of need, for the purposes of reproducing children for people who can maintain a family license but cannot become pregnant for whatever reason. 

Now we must come to the issue of how Minifam will enforce family values. It will be required that a Minifam representative visit the home of each family at least one time every three months. This visitation would preferably be random, and include interviews with not only the parents and children, but also of neighbors and possibly even schoolteachers. Any negative findings should be filed under the family's name at the Ministry of Family, and could have an impact on their license renewal application. If severe problems are encountered within a family the Minifam representative will be authorized to remove children from the parent's care and revoke their license by any means necessary. 

In order to promote family values, and also to make sure that each family is made aware of how to properly conduct their family business, a special television set will be required to be owned by each family. This television will only be able to pick up signals broadcast by Minifam with the intent of helping the family learn more about how to be an upright and good family. It is possible, even, to install cameras in these TV sets so that Minifam can more easily monitor their activities. 

Some people may argue that families shouldn't be governed or monitored like this, but to them I say that if they are good and moral people capable of raising decent children then they have nothing to hide and shouldn't be worried about it. The ones who will make the loudest outcry about this bold new policy are the ones trying to subjugate our family values as Americans in the first place. For the security and happiness of our nation we must do something about our family life. We can't have immoral parents raising immoral children to be rapists, murderers and thieves. American family is in a downward spiral; if we act now, we can save our families.  References

Erera, P. (2002). What is a family? In M. L. Kennedy, W. J. Kennedy, & H. M. Smith, 

Writing in the disciplines: A reader for writers (5th ED.). (pp. 350-366). Upper 

Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Prentice Hall 

Wilson, J. (2002). Cohabitation instead of marriage. In M. L. Kennedy, W. J. Kennedy, & H. M. Smith, Writing in the disciplines: A reader for writers (5th ED.). (pp373- 

Editor’s Note: This essay was written earlier in my academic life and is presented here without substantive revision.

Dante Alighieri’s Inferno is a work which says a lot about its author and the moral attitudes of the society in which he lived. Dante’s structuring and organization of hell is deliberate and purposeful, and is intended to reflect the severity of the various sins according to Catholic dogma. Of course, Dante’s personal beliefs are also reflected throughout the work; for instance, he places many of his political enemies throughout hell. Dante’s careful organization of hell presents God not as a source for good in the universe, but, rather, as an arbiter and upholder of divine law. Inferno does not present God as identical with the moral universe itself, but as a sovereign will administering that universe through law.

Dante divides hell into three major sections which are foreshadowed in the beginning of Inferno by the she-wolf, the lion, and the leopard. These three beasts are symbols of the major divisions of hell–the wolf represents the first division, which consists of the sins of self-indulgence. The lion represents the sins of violence, and the leopard those of fraud. As Dante travels through hell he shows the reader which sins are encompassed by each of these three categories, though he makes no attempt to explain the reasoning of this organization. Dante deliberately makes no attempt to explain the organization because hell was arranged by the will of God. Dante’s lack of explanation for hell shows that he lived in a time when the word of God was regarded as law, and was not to be questioned.

The first major section of hell encompasses circles one through five and consists of those who are guilty of the various sins of self-indulgence, or incontinence. The severity of sinfulness advances from the first circle, which consists of virtuous pagans and unbaptized children, to the lustful in circle two, the gluttonous in circle three, to the squanderers and misers in circle four, and finally the wrathful and sullen of circle five. The sins of self-indulgence function primarily as sins against other people with the only real trouble represented by the unbaptized children and pagans. Divine law would dictate that the unbaptized must be placed in hell, though because these people had no way of knowing Christ they are not actively punished. Instead, their punishment consists only of separation from God.

As the first section of hell consists of those who commit sins against mankind, they are organized according to the degree of harm these sins often inflict. Thus, the lustful are placed first, just after limbo, because their sin usually involves only themselves. The gluttonous come next, because theirs is the frigid sin of self-indulgence—they come to ignore the world in favor for the pleasure of their own senses, and, while not necessarily causing direct harm to anyone, they devalue God’s creation. The squanderers and misers in circle four, however, can easily be thought of as causing harm to others. Resources squandered or hoarded are resources that cannot be put to use by those who need them most. Of all the sins against man, wrath and sullenness are considered the greatest, because they lead to direct harm. Sullenness leads to harm being inflicted upon oneself, while the wrathful harm others.

The punishments of the first five circles of hell give the impression of a harsh, mechanical God. For instance, the philosophers and unbaptized children reside in hell, albeit in the most pleasant circle of hell. This shows that Dante’s God is more involved on the axis of law versus chaos than that of good versus evil. Compassion would dictate that some form of judge be installed to determine if the inhabitants of the first circle deserve a shot at paradise, despite their accidental births. Because God’s law says that those who are unbaptized, or who do not believe in God, must go to hell, then to hell they go. Perhaps God’s compassion shows through in their punishment; because they are in hell they must be punished, but because they committed no sins their punishment is not made too severe: They must endure eternity in hopelessness.

After circle five, Dante and Virgil descend into lower hell, which consists of circles six and seven. Lower hell is represented in the introduction by the lion, and contains the violent and bestial sinners. In circle six are the heretics, who reside in fiery tombs. In life they held beliefs which did not coincide with those required by God, and because of their perversion of the beliefs of others are held in the sixth circle of hell. Next is the seventh circle, which is divided into three sections: The violent against people and property, the violent against the self, and the violent against God and nature. The seventh circle is organized according to the subject of violence—the violent against people and property (property being the means of sustaining life) are placed further out, with the next, the violent against the self, being in the middle. Violence against the self is deemed more heinous than that against others because self violence is a perversion of the gift of life. Finally, those who commit violence against God and nature are judged most harshly in this circle. The violent against nature includes the sodomites, who are guilty of sodomy in the biblical sense—that is, sexual acts which do not lead directly to procreation. The violent against the divine are also called violent against benefactors, and for this reason, are considered the most violent of the three groups.

The last section of hell consists of the eighth and ninth circles, each of which is split up into several smaller sections. The eighth circle is called the Malebolge, which, when translated, means evil ditches or pockets. There are ten of these pockets each containing the fraudulent and malicious; they progress in order toward the center of hell according to the severity of sin: Panderers and seducers, flatterers, simoniacs, fortune tellers and diviners, grafters, hypocrites, thieves, evil counselors, sowers of discord, and falsifiers. The eighth circle ends near the center of hell at the great well, where the ancient titans reside.

The ninth circle, or Cocytus, houses sinners who committed a more severe kind of fraud: Betrayal. Cocytus is home to the betrayers of country, betrayers of guests and hosts, and betrayers of benefactors. These last two circles, made up of the fraudulent and traitorous, are yet another example of God’s devotion to law and order rather than goodness or decency. The reason betrayal and fraud are the most severe sins is because of their effects on lawful and orderly systems—they completely disrupt the way things are supposed to be, introducing chaos into the system. God, being a creature of law, would of course harbor the deepest sense of loathing, and perhaps even fear, toward these agents of chaos. The divine order must have been severely disrupted when Lucifer betrayed God and convinced the other angels to rebel. It is for this introduction of chaos into the divinity and lawfulness of God’s heaven, and for the betrayal of God’s trust, that Lucifer languishes at the very center of hell.

Dante’s hell shows a Divine Will which is mechanical, and which rarely, if ever, considers the extenuating circumstances which might apply to individual sinners. God is not so much a moral agent as a functionary of order. An enforcer. It follows, then, that God must uphold this underlying principle absolutely, and exceptions cannot be made. Inferno shows that not only is the fate of man judged by infallible divine law, but that the hands of God, Himself, are tied by the necessity of upholding that law without reservation.

Works Cited

The fish's tongue, Its vessels severed, Rots and falls away And Cymothoa exigua Grafts itself in place.

It wriggles one way Taking note It wobbles up and down It makes a dance that seems like speech And becomes its master's sound

More than her pugnacious breasts Or buttocks like grapefruits in hip pockets, Men notice her hair first: A great silken rope swinging to her waist They flounder for weapons Against her strength And hope one day to bring her down to their level; To use her body to wipe their feet. They find fault to lessen the terror.

Her grandmother married her to a man with 60 acres-- If a woman is a mule, let her at least be well off-- But she left him for another man. You cain't get her with no fish sandwich. He demanded that she hide her hair, And when he died she let it down. All the men came running-- Each one offering to make her a mule. She preferred managing the store To managing her respectability.

The most important election of our lifetimes: Trump v. Biden Harris. I remember the excitement when she took the corpse-president’s place. But then we were told nothing would fundamentally change.

Fewer still hoped the killing would stop— but Amerika did  what Amerika does best: Genocide. Proletaricide. Anthropocide. 

She needed our votes for the crime of crimes— to damn our souls to everlasting hell and save the nation’s empty myth from a faltering husk of a man. “The fate of the Palestinians is unfortunate, but we must think first of our families.”

I wonder, before mass media,  How God named Light  In the king’s English. Ecclesiastic hierarchy, sure, But two men cannot see the same Sun.

And when the printing press came, How far away was mass literacy? How long until the masses can read the news? Martin Luther put each man in front of his own Bible. How could one book be read by two men?

Every textbook read Teaches us to take pride in your graft Live for you and we can eat And hope a few survive as children They'll endure by tooth and claw The world is yours, the anthem sings

Said bring you the bread Clock in, clock out, pray to the calf It's dishonorable to cheat My blood becomes your billions Your bloody hands stain every vault All is yours but we have dreams

One called Victor, a Dutchman, The other a Scotchman called James Gregory, And the third being a negro named John Punch. They had run away from Virginia, were caught, tried, and sentenced in 1640.

The Dutchman and the Scotchman were condemned To serve out the remainder of their indentured servitude Plus one year. And the third being a negro was condemned to serve out his life. John Punch became the first piece of chattel. And so, we took his time.

Eons passed. One man might own a hundred lifetimes. One fattened tick That could never live a minute longer No matter how much time he sucked. No matter the genteel civility lavished on his equals.

The tick’s cause was lost: Chattel disfavored; Wages more efficient. And criminals… who cares what happens to them? Oh, by the way, if you don’t have a job We’ll have to arrest you for vagrancy.

And now we have moved on from that barbaric dispensation All the old problems have been solved. We join together in harmony And ignore the strange fruit hanging from the poplar trees.

Every day in the paper I read about time. Time taken before it was due.

He leaves work between six and seven every night. Takes the same route home. Obeys every traffic sign.

Pays his bills; No bad checks; No registered firearms:

The world's most boring human.

He has very nice garbage: He's not looking for buff. Rather, meticulous. Refined. Anal.

He eats. They linger; she fawns over him.

The busboy, Over the whine of the vacuum, Tells him the pair should leave.

She loves the pinched nasally whine of his voice. Quivering, she asks him to stay and pronounce-- Sensually-- "Passport"

He does. "You're right we should leave" He asks if she would like to have breakfast with him. "Sure. Fine. Whatever."

Foolishly confident, he replies: "Shall I phone you or nudge you?"

They did not have breakfast.

There are too many love poems in the world.

It could be a conspiracy by Big Love to sell saccharine devotional inventories.

Maybe literary prestige and ambition  inspire in the novice poet a dream which can only be described in verse.

I think it was a basic way to test my cleverness– the way an artist learns to master perspective, then learns to break  the expectations of the viewer and folds this knowledge into their craft.

It’s simply human.

One hopes we all experience love, and maybe some of us try to distill that love  into something that insists the world know,

We added the artisans first. Then came the drudges working the assembly lines. The farmers, or their laborers, at least, were also mixed in. No one really wants to know how the sausage is made. The computers were integrated. Their astronaut wards processed beside them.

And now we've found a way To dig up the artists, writers, musicians, and dancers, the builders and thinkers And feed them to the corpse machine

We asked ChatGPT to write a poem called "Dead Labor" And called it a "corpse machine." It returned an awful poem: Too declarative. No pulse. Generic and clichéd. No tension. Flatly moralistic. Perhaps, if we feed it enough corpses, it will get better.

You sent a picture today. You were reminded of me and you wanted to share the moment.