RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: GLOBAL DEMOCRACY
Respect the Word
Orwell served warning
Words and language matter
Use your words wisely
In contrast to the Mad Hatters
Freedom is not oppression
Love is not hate
Poverty is not a blessing
Tyranny is not fate
Patriotism does not belong to party
Free people do not obey
News is not fake
No matter what the man might say
There is only one real truth
There are no alternative facts
Combine your heart with your head
And on that basis react
When others spread falsehoods
With your silence you appease
When good words serve bad causes
They become a malignant disease
Every authoritarian movement
Begins with a false word
A catchy slogan or phrase
That appeals to the herd
Remember the Reign of Terror
Recall the Third Reich
They claimed a righteous cause
For which the people could fight
Every dictator in history
From Pol Pot to Chairman Mao
Relied on abuse of language
Machiavelli showed them how
Call it out
Loud and bold
Strip it bare
Stop it cold
[Note: This is one in a series of poems inspired by Timothy Snyder's On Tyranny.]
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