The Political Way
A Poem for the season
US Politics exhausts me. The arguments lose form, they lose coherence. We end up saying the same words about different preferences.
I honestly can’t remember the last time I heard a civil conversation about policy. You have to wade through a lot of antagonizing to decipher positions. Most times the ‘debates’ are just name calling contest.
The entire point seems to be to win. Not to govern, but to win. I feel like it’s about advantage. It’s simple, win the advantage. Can you feel the cost of that mindset?
What are any of us actually winning? Just asking.
I wrote this poem to share my perspective.
Of course the systems broken That’s exactly what you’d say It’s halting and it’s complicated It’s intentionally this way So, what is politics to you Is it verb or is it noun? I disagree with the all books I find my logic sound Politics, politics, a noun but in disguise A verb it is, you are, I think Advantage is the prize The noun you dish, advantage is That calms the anxious mass It quells the swelling feud inside So the country we built lasts But politics is rational, a verb fit for the mind We’ve lost the love in what we do We strive to be unkind Of course, of course, we’ll disagree We’ll argue and we’ll fight We’ll stand our ground We’ll get knocked down But will it be alright? This is how it’s always been I can hear you say A modicum of respect I think Would brighten up our day It’s all about advantage And here’s a harder truth The great experiment we dream Is trampled by our shoes We’ve sprinkled in our preferences - A dash of ego - to the soup Take a sip It’s poison! The anecdote is you! Politics has limits on what governance can change Forget all that a minute Even if it feels quite strange The blame game is unending We’ve made demons of our kin Is it greed that prevents our mending Can you name our cardinal sin? I’m tired of the fussing I’m exhausted by the rage The conflicts bounce from state to state The source - difficult to gauge In the end I’ll bring a gift A prize unseen of late Generosity, generosity, generosity, I uncage Now. Share all this advantage Please, pass around your plate
Never mind a civil conversation about policy, I don’t think we have many conversations at all about policy. It’s the cult of personality. I think we find our way back if we can somehow stop name-calling and dehumanizing. All this is to say, I feel your pain!
It's exhausting. But it's important voters go through this process of understanding how our system works.