The Easy Life on Cruise Control

Life is so damn easy for me.

I don’t have to plan for the future because

Pat Robertson says Armageddon is coming.

Until then, I don’t have to hear any dirty language

what with radio having ten second delays,

and the Christian Coalition censoring network TV.

The Motion Picture Association

is rating all the current movies.

I’ve got convenient stores making sure

I don’t have access to X-rated magazines.

I’ve got corporations like Walmart

making sure I can’t buy CD’s

with offensive song lyrics

or negative comments about Walmart.

Facebook will monitor my posts so that

I don’t violate any community standards.

Like negative comments about Mark Zuckerberg.

Twitter will ensure that I don’t point out

what an utter clown Elon Musk is.

I’ve got televangelists like Jim Baker

and the late Jimmy Swaggart telling

me how to be a great husband.

I’ve got Hershel Walker and Nick Cannon

to show me how to be a great dad.

I’ve got the Kardashians to reveal how

a good American capitalist family behaves.

I don’t have to worry about the economy

because we have that trickle-down economics

that has been working so well for the middle-class.

I don’t have to worry about my kid’s safety

because their classroom displays the US flag

and the Ten Commandments.

The school board will also make sure the

students don’t learn the real racist history

and the genocidal nature of our country.

The school library will also protect my kids,

from immoral books like; Huckleberry Finn,

Alice in Wonderland or To Kill a Mockingbird.

Politicians have realized that education and facts

are kryptonite to American citizens.

I don’t have to follow world events.

I’ll just get an unbiased view of them from

FOX News, OAN, infowars or QAnon.

I’m sure former drug addicts like

Rush Limbaugh or Glenn Beck

will give me the truth on right-wing radio.

I don’t have to fret about clean air or water.

As, I’m sure that the corporate CEO’s that own

our politicians and make up every president’s cabinet

have the people’s best interests at the heart of every policy.

With the Supreme Court protecting Citizen’s United,

corporations can buy our political representatives even easier.

That’s a good thing as I don’t have the funds to purchase any.

We don’t have to waste time voting anymore.

The Supreme Court Injustices can select our presidents.

That is great as redistricting eliminated so many

polling places, long lines and the need for bottled water.

Afterall, the idea of elections was getting too controversial.

An ex-president wants to simplify our life even further.

He wants to suspend that pesky old Constitution

and just make him ruler for life.

That president’s first executive order

made the life of my financial adviser easier.

That adviser can now push any investment

that enriches his firm instead of benefiting clients.

Evangelical ministers now support the evilest candidates.

That has made it easier for Christians to ignore

 the peace and love teachings of Jesus Christ.

The answer to violence and death by guns.

is simplified by just saying thoughts and prayers.

Everything is simple and on cruise

and the destination is Armageddon.

Enjoy the ride as the trip will be short.

“We’re all going to die, all of us, what a circus! That alone should make us love each other but it doesn’t. We are terrorized and flattened by trivialities, we are eaten up by nothing.”
― Charles Bukowski

True Working-Class Heroes

Staughton Lynd was a friend and mentor to me. That could be said about anyone that ever met him. He and his wife, Alice are the kind of people, my wife said I am better for knowing. He passed away November 17, 2022. I like many others feel the world will be emptier without him. This article in the New York Times will tell you more about him. Below that I have written a poem for Alice and Staughton. https://www.nytimes.com/2022/11/18/us/staughton-lynd-dead.html

Working Class Heroes

Staughton and Alice possess attentive ears,

that listen quietly and respectfully.

They hear the needs of minorities,

the incarcerated, and the oppressed,

the poor and all those who feel powerless.

They take on people’s pain

and honor their scars.

They expend all their energy,

to help with endless needs.

Offering compassion and courage.

They stress that we must not be divided.

They look at history from below,

and teach that we are all leaders.

They preach solidarity, justice, and equality.

They think those things should

be just part of human nature.

Giving of their time and wisdom,

nourishes their very souls.

That nourishment never fills them up

because they have bottomless

pockets on their hearts.

No dollar amount can respect

such humble giving people.

They are liberating specialists,

who could never just be spectators.

They found nothing was that difficult,

when you put your whole heart into it.

We need more teachers

like this all giving pair.

This is a couple that truly,

lessens the pains of the Earth.

I thank them both for making

a better planet for our families to inhabit.

Rest in well-deserved peace brother Staughton ~ In Solidarity Jim