I used to believe politics was important. Each election, I wrote something & emailed it for humans to read. Turns out, humans don’t like reading.
This time, I recorded a spoken-word poem & set it to music. It was very popular. It won awards & was featured in New York Times & Oprah. Just kidding. Nobody listened to it.
This was written & recorded before 2012 election
progress:
progress certainly seems like a simple thing
and by all rational means, change is progression
the past preserves its lesson
and then repeats itself in so many ways
if change is simply day by day,
then on a massive scale it should move both ways
from the beginning to the end,
and that's all the mind can comprehend
as the illustrious "they" say, a ripple may become a wave
and on the same scale mentioned previously,
infinitely, potentially every day is a new wave
progress has no ownership, no worth,
and no value to the apathetic mind
and, in kind, no one has reason to have empathy,
except instinctually for the benefit of life
guilty by association not by proclamation
not by reiteration of the same feigned lameness
that grazed the mind's foul senses
and contrived one absurd consensus
this being the assumption that somehow there is some true morality
and for some god awful reason you think you've found it
you've grounded all these unsound judgments
with the sounds of a world so far beyond it
in a world of infinitely stagnant politics
these thoughts are detrimental
the political beast is stuck in the middle
of impartial bliss and such partial biases
that seemingly deny the wills inside us
to carry on without the pseudo-apocalyptic dramas
and fear-based fury -corruption that taunt us
logically, our crimes will come back to haunt us
but why proclaim to know why, if knowing never solves the problems
ultimately, rationality will solve this
but only temporarily, for every generation must re-make the cure
and the cure, historically, is abrupt, not subtle movement
evolution is not fluid, through and through
if anything can be trusted, history must be trusted
historically, youth must make every progressive change
the only change that lasts
time and time again, the youth fail us, apathy prevails
and the youth become the masses
the miscommunication must be a concept brought on by man
this awkward place where life began
it's a strain on the human mind
but surely brings about some truth
seems to bring about all lies
but why an awkward subject?
why look above us, why not look all around?
these sounds are sounds of sound judgment
take this factually biased subject and make an example of it
although these laws of science can change,
and may change again -from it
we've gathered where life began
the same way a chemist prepares his lunch
the universe throws earth a punch
unicellular organisms in a crunch -multiply
before our eyes
long before eyes, we multiplied
again, we multiply
and again, we are blind
and those who don't understand it
demand to revolve our world around the demise of progress
and those who may remain lost in the process
intend to keep the world the same
in the information age, nothing stays the same
conservatism by definition is the
tendency to prefer an existing or traditional situation to change
in the information age, nothing stays the same
conservatives fought to keep the blacks enslaved
fought to keep woman caged
and now conservatives fight against the gays
the civil rights movement will never end
gays will have equal rights
social conservatism will bend again
the corrupt and unjust may pretend
in the long run, we all know who always wins
there's a train wreck on the move, from sea to shining sea
I’m not whistling dixie as these people speak for me
middle class slats sippin' coffee instead of tea
well I ain't on your holster, my heart's not on your sleeve
taxation without representation surpasses and defies
the fury that flaws your filtered cause
the means don't meet their mode
in the reprimands of human law
name your party after an historic revolution
and you think you're clever
you're still a yankee on a pony
now you're richer and redder
tip your ivy league hat that you wear like a feather
hold on to your wealth, and bury all your treasure
you're outnumbered, no bigger and no better
our lust for a god we trust, in god you must not be allowed
to fly so high and stoop so low, yet you can smile and take a bow
perch atop your treetops, and pretend you trickle down
pretend you trickle down
there was a time when a man could say
if you're a young republican you have no soul
if you're an old democrat you have no brains
well times have changed
but why proclaim to know why,
if knowing never solves the problems
ultimately, rationality will solve them
the founding fathers were deists and agnostics
who believed in progress
in the process of amending the constitution, congress
was sworn to the separation of church and state
that must never be lost
the tea party and evangelicals are synonymous
if you believe in fairy tales, keep them out of politics
evangelical red, force-fed
feed me christ and you can clean up the mess
every year the church apologizes for denying
and often persecuting men of science
although conservatives are always years behind us
social conservatism is never right
right.
you can say tomaaato and I’ll say it the right way
an apple and an orange both digest in the same way
we have progressed to the point in history
to know that old literature doesn't dictate our future
we are the products of genetic defects
every day our genes mutate
every day can effect the future of the human race
good and evil may be defined, for reference
what no human mind can attempt to define in one sentence
what can never truly be spoken, what can never be written
the concept of good, whether innate or god-given
will be defined as assisting in the survival,
progress and evolution of life
this ideal surpasses race, gender,
sexual preference, religion, and social status
because progress in an expanding universe
is universal
when deciphering our universal problems
listen to the sounds of progress
when electing your officials into office
listen to the sounds of progress
listen to the sounds of progress