The Red Button

The red button has already been pushed

A technical solution to every social problem

A Christian moral to every legitimate law

 

An ideological faction within the atomistic state

Group identity and social relations live on

The expense is the individual who never was

He is alive in theory, tho never truly in practice

 

If at once we were absolutely free,

Now were are defined by the limitations to our freedom

There is a choice: true freedom or simply freedoms

 

A constitution of rights

A mini Bible supplanted by nationalism

A culture industry for democracy

A dogmatic rationality for liberty

 

The red button has already been pushed

The dominant social paradigm mixed with

The relics of Christian doctrine of dark ages

Are we not merely premodern Europe with TVs?

 

Some values change, some values remain

No tolerance except freedom

No ties except individual choice, rights

No community except lonely individuals

 

A contradiction in terms to social beings:

Women, the elderly, children, the disabled

A contradiction to men, bred by women

And nurtured on lies

 

Group identity, identity shifting

The self is raucously lonely

The self is shifting toward his

Least self-interested state

 

The red button is no longer a choice,

The dominant social religious paradigm

The relics of atomistic individuals

The contradiction in terms bellows

Reviews

[spence]

Welcome to the new dark ages! The legacy of aristotle, augustine, jerome, aquinas and their determinist company lives on to subdue free thinking into the new millenium. I really like the way you have suggested that modern humanity is little more than an amalgamation of archaic superstition and modern law. I don't think many realise that the laws and constitutions of western states are simply teleopic adaptions of christian dogma...same goes for related social constraints and the belief in a common enemy to 'mankind'. 'Terrorist' is our most recent devil and our good god's are the lily white leaders that send 'the free' on modern day crusades and witch hunts. You obviously know enough about the history and contexts of western philosophical thought to see this so clearly and i don't believe that its happenstance that what should be the most spiritually and socially enriching period of human history is playing out as a set of lost individuals bereft of a sense of belonging or purpose...other than the celebrity status that we mere mortals can aspire to. As such, we're all still trying to be virtuous individuals in the hope of being elevated to a higher plain of existance.
I'll leave it at that or I'll be typing all day! Excellent poem from an exceptionally unique perspective...if only modern philosophy like this were part of the state curriculum we'd be a far more advanced species, take care, spence