Penumbra

Thoughout our history,
tyrants and fantatics have inspired
the fearful, boot-licking aspect
of the zetgeist. Its luminous, poetic side has been
temporarily eclipsed by the cratered
satellites of prejudice, self-serving
empowerment and domination

We live in an era of would be Pharoes,
pulling their shabby confidence tricks, their
hollow and hateful gambits
substituted for patiently
accumulated knowledge and wisdom.
Earlier phases of American history
such as FDR's New Deal are now
part of our shared experience.
These successes are tools that can't be
easily eliminated from our political
knowledge of how to address social needs.

It is hard to visualize what forces must emerge to
transition from a society controlled by fear and repression to
one based on social needs. There is
something in human nature
that will not put up, for long, with laws and leaders
whose authority is founded on
hypocrisy and mean spirited oppression.