The System
The system is bigger
Than all of us.
It’s a stubborn behemoth.
It’s made by all of us
But it grows organically.
It reveals the quality
Of our relationships
And the overall condition of humanity.
It exposes our corruption
We’re no longer able to say
What we mean
Or mean what we say.
Dishonesty is a requisite
Public Relations skill.
The system creates impressive speakers
But tone-deaf listeners.
We operate on cues
And choreograph our steps
So that our responses can be controlled
And the system can continue.
So how does the system change?
It does through growing numbers
And the interactions
Between the different players.
Our roles and our occupations
Are in accordance with the system.
The capitalists exploit
The working class toils
The entertainers entertain
The followers follow
The leaders create their following.
The politicians serve themselves
In the garb of serving others.
And the rebels create trouble.
Innovation too, is a troublemaker.
It adds a layer of complexity to our system.
Jobs are lost;
Jobs are created.
Education must re-invent itself.
It’s purpose is no longer clear
The system has made it contingent.
To profit from the system
Is the only way to survive it.
We’ve created a system
Of fallen heroes.
We’re no longer inspired
By the greatness of another.
We’re in fact, suspicious of it.
We’re entertained
And feel morally superior
When another falls from grace.
Always measuring our altitude
With another’s low.
But we are each other…
In the system
We actually become each other.
Saint and sinner
Are two sides of the same persona.
Each sustains the other.
We’re certain that in our times
Everyone must have a dark side
After all, how can anyone in the system
Remain unsullied by it?
We know not the inevitable loss
That awaits us.
We know not that we’re enslaved…
And therefore, we look not for freedom
…But an occasional escape.
In such an overwhelming shroud of sorrow
These little things make us happy.
For so much of us that is dead
These little things make us feel alive.
The disease in the system
Is one of ‘bottom-line pragmatism’.
We celebrate those
Who speak in terms of bottom lines.
They ensure we all receive a paycheck.
We’re shackled in a very confined space.
It’s also a confusing space…
The system has programmed our thoughts.
We wonder: “Where will I go?”
“What must I seek?”
“What is the need?”
The system after all,
Provides me with everything
Including the answers I seek
It knows it all.
