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Poetry: Proposal to Change the World

Poetry: Proposal to Change the World
Wed, 4/18/2012 - by Chuck Stein

Photo: Matthew Geldof

Our very existence depends upon

the vigilance of our perceptions

and the veracity of the reports

on whose basis we negotiate our lives.

If you shut your eyes on the highway,

there's a good chance you'll crash your car.

Tolerance of falsehood is riding blind,

yet we live in a culture of falsehood.

We have grown tolerant of lying on every level

of our national existence.

We are numb to the lies that manufacturers tell

about the products that they are selling us;

we don't care that those sworn to protect us

lie about the dangers that threaten us;

that those engaged to enhance our lives

lie about the possibilities that are open to us.

Our leaders do not tell us

the principles upon which they truly act;

they mask their motivations,

distort the facts

upon which their acts are based,

and keep us from divining their consequences.

We accept as a matter of course

that persons in public life

will paint their public "face"

to maintain position and power;

that corporations will manipulate their public reports

to serve their interests;

that information about what is really going on

in the institutions that comprise

the context of our lives

cannot be got at.

Yet everybody hates being lied to.

In our private lives

we rarely stand for

what in public we barely notice.

The Truth is We Hate Being Lied To.

Therefore

Consider this

PROPOSAL TO CHANGE THE WORLD:

LET US ALL SIMPLY NOTICE AND ACKNOWLEDGE

ONE SIMPLE FACT:

WE DO NOT LIKE BEING LIED TO

And why shouldn't this be enough to change the world?

 

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