Who Put the Brutes in Charge?

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AncientHippie
Member

since 2009-10-15

Posts 411
Surfing the Cosmic Flow

0 posted 2009-11-03 06:51 PM

Who put the brutes in charge?
All around us black rain falls:
war, incarceration, empowered police,
draconian and paternalistic laws,
intolerance of gays, drug users,
homeless, immigrants, liberals,
religious intolerance and prejudice.
Societal problems are answered
with military might,
with repression and invasion,
with imprisonment,
with death.

Who put the brutes in charge?
This should be the age of global equality,
with water and health,
with education for all.
We have the wealth,
we have the technology,
and multitudes of people
who want to help,
who long to make a difference.

When did we put the brutes in charge?
When did we empower military adventurism
and social repression?
When did we give our permission
to ruin the global economies,
and to wreck the environment.
Who said we should let Darfur continue,
and Guantanamo thrive?

Why did we put the brutes in charge?
Are we so addicted
and conditioned to control and punishment
that we let social justice die?
We give our conscience money
to diverse charities
while permitting dictators
and repressive regimes to continue unscathed.
We repeat platitudes about
doing unto others
while the Pope, advocating abstinence,
condemns condom use to control Aids.

Who put the brutes in charge?
Who empowered such greed
for wealth and power
to control our lives,
and the future of the planet?
We did, and we continue,
to stay with what we know,
to respond to our conditioning
to the propaganda of greed and hate,
to the politics of fear and consumerism,
to do the easy thing.

We put the brutes in charge:
isn't it time we changed
our political criteria?
Isn't it time for thinking people,
for caring people,
to make our voices heard?
Where are the intellectuals,
the social liberals, the progressives?
Where are the religious moderates,
and dinner party philosophers
who call for a better way?

We put the brutes in charge:
this brutish geo-political Ferris wheel
must stop, must become a nightmare of the past,
must join the Inquisition,
the Salem witch trials,
the Holocaust,
the Khmer Rouge,
al Qaeda,
on the trash heap of history.
Thinking people must speak out,
and make our voices heard:
an ever growing thunder
that heralds the dawn
of social renaissance,
of change,
of the way that things can be,
should be,
must be.
Who put the brutes in charge?

"We are stardust: we are golden: and we've got to get ourselves back to the garden." --Joni Mitchell "Woodstock"

rachaelfuchsberger

Senior Member

since 2007-02-21

Posts 609
Las Vegas, NV

1 posted 2009-11-03 08:51 PM

Jim, I absolutely loved this poem. Despite the fact that much, if not all of it is true, it is a piece that makes one think.

Goddess grant me the serenity to accept the things that I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can and the wisdom to know the difference.

AncientHippie
Member

since 2009-10-15

Posts 411
Surfing the Cosmic Flow

2 posted 2009-11-04 08:35 AM

Thank you, Rachael. This stuff makes me crazy, so once in a while I have to indulge myself in a good rant, and then self-medicate a bit.
Peace
Jim

"We are stardust: we are golden: and we've got to get ourselves back to the garden." --Joni Mitchell "Woodstock"

GBride
Senior Member

since 2009-07-02

Posts 538

3 posted 2009-11-05 07:36 PM

A great rant.
The west would do a lot better helping these people in third world counties: food, clothing, schools, medicine.
But now we have made many enemies.
God says those who live by the sword, die by the sword. We would do well to listen to God.
Less bombing, more help.
And now the president(USA) might send 40,000 more troops: what lunacy!

N|D|N|C|Lost-Poet
Member

since 2009-07-30

Posts 360
New Orleans

4 posted 2009-11-06 02:14 AM

Since I couldn't figure out how to PM on this forum I wanted to thank you for your 'polishing/responses' on my poems.

However, the way I word them may not be proper English; but there is a reason for that. English for me is where I'm from, not whats written in the dictionary

And I didn't just randomly pick this poem to respond too, I actually did enjoy it- Even if I didnt quite agree with it.

Beautifully captured.

AncientHippie
Member

since 2009-10-15

Posts 411
Surfing the Cosmic Flow

5 posted 2009-11-06 09:32 AM

Thank you, GBride. I see you are on the same page as me.

Lost Poet: You will see a response to your comments under the poem I critiqued. Thank you for your comments.

Jim

"We are stardust: we are golden: and we've got to get ourselves back to the garden." --Joni Mitchell "Woodstock"

Midnitesun

Member Empyrean

since 2001-05-18

Posts 28647
Gaia

6 posted 2009-11-06 10:15 AM

The needed changes must come first from the heart of humanity, accepting we are all one family. Compassion must rule the hearts of elected officials before they will change the politics of greed, injustice and inequity.
Too many people are asleep at the wheel of life. We each have to do our share to promote kindness, empathy...true compassion.

namaste....Kacy

AncientHippie
Member

since 2009-10-15

Posts 411
Surfing the Cosmic Flow

7 posted 2009-11-09 03:09 PM

Too true, Kacy. It is long past time for a new Renaissance: the flowering of mankind. Hasten the day.
Namaste
Jim

"We are stardust: we are golden: and we've got to get ourselves back to the garden." --Joni Mitchell "Woodstock"

JamesMichael
Member Empyrean

since 1999-11-16

Posts 33336
Kapolei, Hawaii, USA

8 posted 2009-11-09 05:53 PM

Some good thoughts here...James

shalisadefa
Member

since 2009-08-13

Posts 114

9 posted 2009-11-09 07:06 PM

Rant on AH, this is a wake up call for all of us!

LindsayP
Member Elite

since 2007-07-28

Posts 3410
Australia, Victoria

10 posted 2009-11-09 08:19 PM

Jim this is one powerful thought provoking post you have written here and oh so true.

It will make a lot of people sit up and take notice,especcialy when the truth is

brought home to the ones in charge.
a great write.

Lindsay

AncientHippie
Member

since 2009-10-15

Posts 411
Surfing the Cosmic Flow

11 posted 2009-11-15 03:02 PM

James, Lindsay, and shalisadefa: Thank you for your kind words.
Peace,
Jim

"We are stardust: we are golden: and we've got to get ourselves back to the garden." --Joni Mitchell "Woodstock"

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