Paramilitary Control (On Tyranny)

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: ON TYRANNY

Paramilitary Control

The second amendment is a dangerous right

In the hands of hoodlums and mobs

It heightens tension in any fight

And makes policing a difficult job

 

Gun advocates generally like to ignore

That important note on regulation

They carry guns in church and stores

Making ours a most volatile nation

 

We cannot survive with runaway mobs

Armed with weapons of mass destruction

Ask your local police department

If you need further instruction

 

When the right to bear arms is out of control

We must demand reasonable restraint

For mobs with rage and guns in hand

Cannot be trusted as if they were saints 

(Inspired by Timothy Snyder's On Tyranny)

 

 

Inevitability (On Tyranny)

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: ON TYRANNY

Inevitability

 

We have fallen under

A spell of comfortable passivity

 

The past is forgotten

The future is inevitable

 

The arc of history bends toward justice

 

Why fight for a cause however worthy

When the die is cast (alea iacta est)

And the future is ordained

Why bother with it all

Sit back and witness as our

Heroes on tall white horses

Save the day

 

Ask the victims of Mussolini

About the arc of history

Ask the Spanish about Franco

Ask the Jews about the Reich

The Chinese about the purge

The Russians about Stalin

The Ukrainians about Putin

Ask your elders about McCarthy

And the letters KKK

 

The future is not written

Nothing is inevitable

Nothing belongs to fate

 

Tyranny is enabled by passivity

Passivity is enabled by faith

In the inevitable

 

Embrace Professionalism

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR:  ON TYRANNY

Embrace Professionalism

 

Democracy survived

On the backs of civil servants in

Pennsylvania Georgia Arizona Michigan

Individuals refused to bow

To an unscrupulous president

Precinct captains and secretaries of state

Planted the staff and held their ground

In cities counties and modest towns

 

They upheld the law

In defiance of their party

They upheld their code

In deference to their honor

They carried a heavy load

 

When all else failed

And the rule of law slipped away

Professionalism held strong

And democracy won the day

 

Lawyers are bound to the law

Judges are bound to legal dictates

Doctors are bound to an ethical code

Administrators uphold standards

And teachers are bound to rules

Without which order disintegrates

And we fall prey to a fool’s dictates

 

When all else fails the test

Professionalism is the last line of defense

Against the insurrectionist mob

They honorably do their jobs 

* See On Tyranny by Timothy Snyder

One Party (On Tyranny)

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: ON TYRANNY

One Party

 

Democracy is not a team sport

Though we often treat it as if it were

To our side we give only praise

To the opposition we shout a curse

 

Politics is not a religion

It’s healthy to disagree

No one is always right

No one can always please

 

Whenever one man has all the answers

Though the questions have not been asked

You can be sure beyond all doubt

That man is wearing a deceptive mask

 

Beware anyone who proclaims the truth

The one and only way

For there is no single answer

To the problems we face today

 

Democracy demands multiple voices

An open forum for debate

If you have only a single party

Tyranny will be your fate

 

Symbols of Hate

RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: ON TYRANNY

 

Symbols of Hate

 

The face of the world has meaning

It should never be ignored

Signs and symbols of hatred

Precede the dragon that roared

 

Remember when the N word

Was in everyday use

Racists laid it out there

To test the limits of their abuse

 

They test our sensibilities

By observing how we react

To see how much we will accept

Their racist creed as a given fact

 

Tolerance is a license to abuse

The new swastika is the letter Q

If you would not be a supremacist

Do not walk in a supremacist’s shoes

 

If you would not tolerate a gangland mark

Do not accept the Proud Boy game

A swastika or the numeral XIII

A MAGA hat is just the same

 

Bigotry is bigotry

Racism is racism

Intolerance is intolerance

By any other name 

[NOTE: Inspired by Timothy Snyder's On Tyranny]

Respect the Word

 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.]