A Media Community Integrating Spirituality, Democracy, Ethics
Wars on You
"They gotta war for oil, a war for gold,
A war for money and a war for souls,
A war on terror, a war on drugs,
A war on kindness and a war on hugs,
A war on birds and a war on bees.
They gotta a war on hippies tryin' save the trees.
A war with jets and a war with missiles,
A war with high seated, government officials,
Wall street war on high finance,
A war on people who just love to dance,
A war on music, a war on speech,
A war on teachers and the things they teach,
A war for the last 500 years.
War's just messin' up the atmosphere.
A war on Muslims, a war on Jews,
A war on Christians and Hindus,
A whole lotta people just sayin' kill them all.
They gotta a war on Mumia Abu Jamal,
The war on pot is a war that’s failed,
A war that's fillin' up the nations jails.
World war one, two, three and four,
Chemical weapons, biological war,
Bush war 1, Bush war 2,
They gotta war for me, they gotta war for you!"
A Truer poetic rhyme has never riffed on. It flowed from the prophetic well of Michael Franti. (Listen below.)
02 We Don't Stop.mp3
A war on communism, drugs, materialism, secularism, terrorism, gay marriage, abortion rights. Rest assured but with both eyes fully open - when you hear a government or a group declaring war on something, the war is on you.
The war on communism spawned over the top zealots like McCarthy bulls eyeing and black balling hoards of creative, honorable, patriotic souls. It mutated into Korean and Vietnam wars, which are still cavernous in terms of personal, national, international pain and angst.
Nicholas Kristof writes, “This year marks the 40th anniversary of President Richard Nixon’s start of the war on drugs, and it now appears that drugs have won.
We have vastly increased the proportion of our population in prisons. The United States now incarcerates people at a rate nearly five times the world average. In part, that’s because the number of people in prison for drug offenses rose roughly from 41,000 in 1980 to 500,000 today. Until the war on drugs, our incarceration rate was roughly the same as that of other countries.
It’s now broadly acknowledged that the drug war approach has failed. President Obama’s new drug czar, Gil Kerlikowske, told the Wall Street Journal that he wants to banish the war on drugs phraseology, while shifting more toward treatment over imprisonment.”
The hellish “war on terror” has debased the human decency of all concerned. U.S. government officials have resorted to global lying, bullying, torture, dictatorial secrecy, spying on its citizens, the banishment of habeas corpus, and the virtual wholesale gerrymandering of our constitution.
Our reputation is shamefully sullied among our allies and we have birthed more terrorists than democratic converts. We have killed legions more innocent civilians in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Pakistan than Bin Laden ever reveled in on 9-11. Even though we “regret mistakes were made” following our initial denials and investigations, the indelible damage is done.
The wars are on you; your person, your privacy, your property, your principles.
The venerable sage Lao Tzu offers timeless spiritual medicine.
“There is no greater illusion than fear,
no greater wrong than preparing to defend yourself, no greater misfortune than having an enemy.
Whoever can see through all fear
will always be safe.”
A war for money and a war for souls,
A war on terror, a war on drugs,
A war on kindness and a war on hugs,
A war on birds and a war on bees.
They gotta a war on hippies tryin' save the trees.
A war with jets and a war with missiles,
A war with high seated, government officials,
Wall street war on high finance,
A war on people who just love to dance,
A war on music, a war on speech,
A war on teachers and the things they teach,
A war for the last 500 years.
War's just messin' up the atmosphere.
A war on Muslims, a war on Jews,
A war on Christians and Hindus,
A whole lotta people just sayin' kill them all.
They gotta a war on Mumia Abu Jamal,
The war on pot is a war that’s failed,
A war that's fillin' up the nations jails.
World war one, two, three and four,
Chemical weapons, biological war,
Bush war 1, Bush war 2,
They gotta war for me, they gotta war for you!"
A Truer poetic rhyme has never riffed on. It flowed from the prophetic well of Michael Franti. (Listen below.)
02 We Don't Stop.mp3
A war on communism, drugs, materialism, secularism, terrorism, gay marriage, abortion rights. Rest assured but with both eyes fully open - when you hear a government or a group declaring war on something, the war is on you.
The war on communism spawned over the top zealots like McCarthy bulls eyeing and black balling hoards of creative, honorable, patriotic souls. It mutated into Korean and Vietnam wars, which are still cavernous in terms of personal, national, international pain and angst.
Nicholas Kristof writes, “This year marks the 40th anniversary of President Richard Nixon’s start of the war on drugs, and it now appears that drugs have won.
We have vastly increased the proportion of our population in prisons. The United States now incarcerates people at a rate nearly five times the world average. In part, that’s because the number of people in prison for drug offenses rose roughly from 41,000 in 1980 to 500,000 today. Until the war on drugs, our incarceration rate was roughly the same as that of other countries.
It’s now broadly acknowledged that the drug war approach has failed. President Obama’s new drug czar, Gil Kerlikowske, told the Wall Street Journal that he wants to banish the war on drugs phraseology, while shifting more toward treatment over imprisonment.”
The hellish “war on terror” has debased the human decency of all concerned. U.S. government officials have resorted to global lying, bullying, torture, dictatorial secrecy, spying on its citizens, the banishment of habeas corpus, and the virtual wholesale gerrymandering of our constitution.
Our reputation is shamefully sullied among our allies and we have birthed more terrorists than democratic converts. We have killed legions more innocent civilians in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Pakistan than Bin Laden ever reveled in on 9-11. Even though we “regret mistakes were made” following our initial denials and investigations, the indelible damage is done.
The wars are on you; your person, your privacy, your property, your principles.
The venerable sage Lao Tzu offers timeless spiritual medicine.
“There is no greater illusion than fear,
no greater wrong than preparing to defend yourself, no greater misfortune than having an enemy.
Whoever can see through all fear
will always be safe.”
Tags: lao tzu, michael franti, war on communism, war on drugs, war on terror
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The Free Souls Connection
The Free Souls Connection is an initiative of the Free Souls Project with the intention of cultivating a community of Progressive media producers and users in the areas of Spirituality, Democracy and Ethics.
We invite original written, audio, and video creations in the lineage of Spiritual Humanism, the wellspring of the Declaration of Independence and Constitution, forming the basis for a healthy integration of Spirituality, Democracy, and Ethics.
Rev. Theodore Parker expresses this trinity of American values marvelously. “There is what I call the American idea…a democracy, that is, a government of all the people, by all the people, for all the people; of course, a government of the principles of eternal justice, the unchanging law of God; for shortness' sake I will call it the idea of Freedom.”
Come Ministers, Radio Hosts, Musicians, Poets, Bloggers, Cartoonists, Commentators and all artists for the common good!
Let us support, nurture, encourage, and commune with one other and our sacred world.
We invite original written, audio, and video creations in the lineage of Spiritual Humanism, the wellspring of the Declaration of Independence and Constitution, forming the basis for a healthy integration of Spirituality, Democracy, and Ethics.
Rev. Theodore Parker expresses this trinity of American values marvelously. “There is what I call the American idea…a democracy, that is, a government of all the people, by all the people, for all the people; of course, a government of the principles of eternal justice, the unchanging law of God; for shortness' sake I will call it the idea of Freedom.”
Come Ministers, Radio Hosts, Musicians, Poets, Bloggers, Cartoonists, Commentators and all artists for the common good!
Let us support, nurture, encourage, and commune with one other and our sacred world.
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