“…the problem of the future of America is in certain respects as dark as it is vast. Pride, competition, segregation, vicious wilfulness and license beyond example, brood already upon us. ”
— Walt Whitman, American Vistas, 1871
You were owned from the beginning,
and you’re still owned today.
Your revolution merely shifted ownership,
from English royalty to wealthy settlers.
After land-owning settlers you became
subjects of industry’s wealthy robber barons.
Today you are ruled by a corporate network led
by Wall Street’s banking vultures.
Waiting in the wings to capture the throne are
the greedy boys of high tech.
You sold your soul and voice to groups of men
expected to make you rich.
Armies of lobbyists made sure that the power
their money bought stayed with them.
Throughout, you dropped scraps of red or blue paper
into boxes and called it your democracy.
Throughout, your owners did not listen to you
or tell you the truth,
your role was just to follow.
When will you be ready to break the tyranny of money
that has brooded over your land?