Read

Error message

Notice: Undefined index: base_url in include_once() (line 125 of /home3/occupyco/public_html/dev/sites/default/settings.php).

User menu

Search form

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?

 

3 WAYS TO SHOW YOUR SUPPORT

ONE-TIME DONATION

Just use the simple form below to make a single direct donation.

DONATE NOW

MONTHLY DONATION

Be a sustaining sponsor. Give a reacurring monthly donation at any level.

GET SOME MERCH!

Now you can wear your support too! From T-Shirts to tote bags.

SHOP TODAY

Sign Up

Article Tabs

prison reform, incarceration rates, private prisons, for-profit prisons, white supremacy, enslavement, climate justice, racial justice, Green New Deal

The year 2020 has caused many white people to realize we live in a racist system. The Green New Deal is about systemic change for all, and deconstructing racism must be front and central in this agenda.

coronavirus pandemic, Donald Trump, Boris Johnson, Jair Bolsonaro, COVID-19 deaths, downplaying coronavirus

By infecting three of the world’s most right-wing leaders, the coronavirus underscored not only the incompetence and irresponsibility of their governments – but the truth that their brand of populism doesn't keep people safe.

COVID-19, corporate bailouts, corporate welfare, corporate destruction

Corporations are not "too big to fail" and, when they commit crimes, they are not "too big to jail." As David Whyte writes in his new book, "Ecocide: Kill the Corporation Before It Kills Us," the moment is now to rein in out-of-control corporate power.

The world has lost an incredible thinker and doer. I have lost an amazing friend. A void exists where before it was filled with David's optimism, humour and joy.

Kevin Zeese speaks at a rally for Chelsea Manning. By Ellen Davidson.

Kevin fought to bring truth every day. We must not lose this struggle.

prison reform, incarceration rates, private prisons, for-profit prisons, white supremacy, enslavement, climate justice, racial justice, Green New Deal

The year 2020 has caused many white people to realize we live in a racist system. The Green New Deal is about systemic change for all, and deconstructing racism must be front and central in this agenda.

coronavirus pandemic, Donald Trump, Boris Johnson, Jair Bolsonaro, COVID-19 deaths, downplaying coronavirus

By infecting three of the world’s most right-wing leaders, the coronavirus underscored not only the incompetence and irresponsibility of their governments – but the truth that their brand of populism doesn't keep people safe.

COVID-19, corporate bailouts, corporate welfare, corporate destruction

Corporations are not "too big to fail" and, when they commit crimes, they are not "too big to jail." As David Whyte writes in his new book, "Ecocide: Kill the Corporation Before It Kills Us," the moment is now to rein in out-of-control corporate power.

The world has lost an incredible thinker and doer. I have lost an amazing friend. A void exists where before it was filled with David's optimism, humour and joy.

Kevin Zeese speaks at a rally for Chelsea Manning. By Ellen Davidson.

Kevin fought to bring truth every day. We must not lose this struggle.