Individualism and Liberty

by James W. Harris

_________________________________

Self-Government

Our political system is based,
they say,
on self-government.

So we vote every two years
on who will govern us 
in virtually every aspect of our lives.

But if we try instead to govern ourselves,
We will be jailed or shot. 

It is self-government, so long as you
Do not actually 
Attempt to. 
_________________________________

Bad Child
 
We had such high
Expectations
For the 
Child
But he 
Let us 
Down.
So we
Punished him.
Bad child!
Bad child!
We had such
Great plans
For you
But you
Ruined it all
By becoming
Yourself. 

_________________________________

Louder Faster Blinding
 
Make everything
Louder faster brighter
Screaming
Blinding
Ever more disjointed
Ever-changing
Virtually 
Meaningless
And I won't ever
Have to think
Or reflect
Or even be
Able 
To. 

_________________________________

The Great Racket
 
They crack down on the gamblers
While draining suckers with their lotteries.
They crack down on drugs
While running liquor stores and subsiding tobacco.
They go after burglars
While taxing us at 70%.
They say they protect our liberty
By conscripting us as slaves.
They prattle about the glories of free speech
Unless such speech threatens them,
In which case they 
Savagely suppress it. 

Any smart school child can see through this
And would laugh at them,
But there aren't so many
Smart school children,
Because they control the schools, 
Too. 
 
_________________________________

Prisons for Children
 
Schools
are
Prisons
For
Children.
 
The children's crime
Is to be
Full of 
Passion
Wild energy
A thirst for knowledge
To question
And challenge
Everything
In other words,
To be fully
Alive and human. 
 
The schools
Cure this.
Then the children, 
Transformed,
Are released,
On permanent parole,
Into
Adulthood. 

_________________________________

Berlin Wall Around His Brain

The government schools
built a Berlin Wall
around his brain.
No ideas of his own
Can leave,
No new ideas can enter
without a passport stamped
by government officials
at the border. 

Armed border guards 
stand ready to shoot and kill
unauthorized trespassers
from either direction. 

 _________________________________

They will Kill You
 
They will kill you if  you give them 
Half a chance.
 
They will kill you for being 
Too smart, because they are not,
Too rich, because they envy success.
Too poor, because they hate themselves,
Too ugly, because they can't see the beauty in you or themselves,
Too beautiful, so beautiful they can't kill it or sell it or steal it,
Too talented, because they can't  go to that same place 
 
They will kill you  for being different
Unless they can use that difference.
 
And they will also kill you if you aren't so different,
If you hang around with them
And become them,
And that death will be the slowest and worst of all.

_________________________________
 

The Right
 
What gives you
The right
To live
So freely,
Not worrying 
Even a little bit
About
What others 
Think of you?
 
And how long 
Do you think
You can get away
With it?

_________________________________

The Right to Remain Silent
 
You have the right 
To remain 
silent
 
But the moral 
Obligation
To
scream
In  
outrage 

_________________________________

Discovery
 
He suddenly discovered
he could 
fly!
And he laughed
and raised his arms 
and prepared to
soar
but we 
caught him
and
killed him
and 
pissed on 
his corpse
because we 
could 
not.

_________________________________

We Are Free
 
The State takes half our income in taxes,
But we are free.
The State raises and educates our children,
But we are free.
The State tells us what we can and cannot ingest,
But we are free.
The State commands us to fight and die in its wars,
But we are free. 
The State controls every single aspect
Of our personal and economic lives,
But we are free
We are free
We are oh so gloriously
Free
And we know it
Because
The State tells us so,
Constantly. 

_________________________________

No Ropes No Chains
 
There are no ropes
Or chains
Around me.
I can do almost anything
Say almost anything
I want.
 
But I can’t think
Of anything to do
Or say
Except the same things
Everyone else
Is doing
And saying.
 
Sometimes ropes and chains
Are not needed.
 
Most of the time,
Actually. 

_________________________________

The Revolution Will Be Trademarked and Sold
 
Rebellion is packaged
And sold
Like every other
commodity
You can buy your
Circle A (tm) T-shirt
At the mall,
The cars say you can drive to freedom
If you mortgage yourself to purchase them,
The restaurants say says
You can have it your way
And there are 
No rules.

You can probably buy stock
In rebellion,
There’s probably a rebellion
Mutual fund. 
 
It is all of course
A big load of shit
As you perhaps
Will discover
Soon enough. 

_________________________________

Lawd Have Mercy
 
They can say
"People of color."
But if I say
"Colored people,"
Well, Holy Mackeral deah, Boss,
Here come de
Lynch mob. 
_________________________________

The Human Race
 
He told the truth
And they beat him
But he would not
Shut up
So 
They killed him.
 
Their grandchildren
Accepted his heresy
As obvious, even banal,
And wondered how
Their elders could ever
Have been so foolish,
 
Even as they themselves
Tortured some poor fool
To death
For speaking some
New 
Truth. 

_________________________________

One Day You Will Thank Us
 
“One day you will thank us,”
they said as they dragged
the young man into the
operating room
and 
despite his struggles
pinned him to the table
clamped him down
and
set to work.
 
It was painful, 
shattering,
and he fought back,
jerking against his restraints,
clawing, scratching, screaming
grasping at air.
But resistance
was futile.
 
Eventually, they finished
And stepped back to
Inspect their work.

Success! He was
Just like them,
Just like everyone
else.

And they were right,
One day he did indeed
Thank them.

But he was not
The same
Young man. 
_________________________________

Everybody Look Alike

Everybody looks alike
Everybody dresses alike 
Everybody wears ads
On their feet and chests
Everybody's got the same kind of
Holes drilled in their ears 
and noses.

Everybody worships death
Death is the newest fashion trend
Skulls and black gowns
Death, death, death.
Death for sale
At the mall,
At Wal-Mart.
Death songs on the
Top 40.

Serial killers
The new movie stars. 

To love life is the 
Ultimate anti-fashion
Statement. 

_________________________________

The Human Billboards

Hey man
How much 
is that corporation
Paying you

To wear their fucking
AD
On your shirt? 
_________________________________

More Immoral Than Me

There are people
Far more immoral than me,
But they don’t know it
So that makes me
Far worse. 
_________________________________

The March of the Stupid People
 
Look,
It is the
March of the Stupid People.
Tromp, tromp,
Here they come!
Tromp, tromp,
So many of them,
All ages, races,
Tromp, tromp.
They march a bit
Raggedly, yes,
But with such
Enthusiasm
It more than
Compensates.
Tromp, tromp,
They are on some new
Great crusade --
Some 
Great Cause
Has momentarily seized their
Ever-volatile 
Attention,
Tromp, tromp,
And off they go.
Tromp, tromp,
I expect many will die
And they in turn
Will kill
Many similar ones
Before it is all over.
Tromp, tromp.
Whatever it is
It is no doubt
Meaningless
And will accomplish
Nothing of value
And will shortly be
Utterly forgotten, 
But it will keep them occupied
Until the next Great Cause
Comes along.
Tromp, tromp,
Tromp, tromp,
Yes, their band plays
Beautiful martial music
And the old sentimental favorites
And hymns
And of course
The National Anthem.
 
And yes, I applaud
And cheer
And wave
As they pass
And I strongly suggest 
You do, too.
Then, when they have gone,
I will lay low and be quiet
For a while.
For though I despise them
I also greatly fear them 
And 
There are 
So many 
Of them,
As you can
See. 

More poems by James W. Harris