Ignorance And Bliss
Where ignorance is bliss, ’tis folly to be wise.
Thomas Gray (1742)
Knowledge is a dangerous thing
To the controllers of our lives
They are afraid of plebeian wisdom
It is a threat to their mission of power
Their program of expansion
Their strategy of self-aggrandisement
So ignorance is the catchword
The strategy denying our awareness
Our catalyst for a better world
These petty tyrants are afraid above all things of education
For that is the seed of revolution
The power to dream and scheme for justice
An escape from the carefully planned inequality of the present
This is why learning today is so costly
Why the study pathway has fewer barriers for the elite
Why market forces control learning
So be it
Note well these words however, you inhibitors of thinking
Change is in the air
The inventiveness of mankind
Is spreading awareness as never before
We the humble, the oppressed, the forsaken
Who dwell in the lower depths of privilege
Now have cyber shoulders to stand on
We can speak to each other
Brush minds
Be not lost but found in thought together
Plan a new Utopia beyond your reach and control
A world where the past is truly understood
Where the future gently belongs to us all
And you are recognised in all your ignominy
Trust me
It is now but a matter of time
Idiots
Once upon a dime
A group of idiots
Found work on the media
Television was their go
Head and shoulders only stuff
There they would be
Babbling out nonsense with an air of expertise
Endorsed by the approval of the ruthless czars in charge
It was a strange experience
To see these inept fools
Building their reputation with self praise
And then reaching a high point of gobbledegook
With statements totally devoid of scientific verification
The trouble was idiocy is catching
These refugees from mental asylums were believed
By large numbers of the community
Who caught the idiocy virus
The effect of this was alarmingly extensive
As large numbers of the infected
Re-invented the fiasco
To protect the reader
From further mental anguish
I will forbear from further description of this
As for the media halfwits
They are still plying their tirades
Every day
And twice on Sunday to imply holiness
It is quite remarkable really
How such nonsense
Could find an ongoing place in any society
And yet, perhaps there is an explanation
Available in already existing words
So here I leave you
And hand you over to Desiderius Erasmus:
In the kingdom of the blind, the one-eyed man is king.
The Age Of Inequality
All animals are equal but some are more equal than others.
George Orwell: Animal Farm
Many of us are born into inequality
Indigenous people, for example
Are historical losers in so many places
And women too
So many times more work and less pay
Racism is rife with foreigners exponentially
And the dogs are barking at the whistles we hear
Children from the wrong post codes
Are identifiable also-rans
While teachers and nurses
Are largely underpaid…
Thus society’s wheels grind on
Oiled by the power of a privileged potent few
It’s more for the rich and less for the poor
That is the way our life style seems designed to work
Success is the essence of our mores
Failure is almost a crime and promotes disgust
Any plan, any alliance has its justification in success
And yet there is one shadow
Hovering over the approved conventions of our age
One factor common to us all, rich or poor,
Upper class or not,
Failure or success at whatever the cost
That strange equality
Is death
What you are stays with you posthumously
And thunders
So when you die
The equalising destiny for all of us
Your deeds will be all that is left of you
Your kindness or your violence
Your greatness or your triviality
Your integrity or your despicable scheming
This is what history has the glorious ability to reveal
So carry on you CEOs of indifference
Stay up there on your superior pedestals
Make the most of your time while you can
But give a little thought
To your children and your children’s children
Or whoever else you leave behind
Demons, elite or commonplace,
Are well defined and assessed in the annals
That is where what you are now will be discovered
May the same flowers grow on your grave
As you’ll find on ours
Pandora
I killed my friend Pandy today
My faithful and loving dog
Old age had set in
She had been with me so long
Once teeming with life
Now
Her poor body was racked with pain
And with unusual swellings
The suffering was obvious
But she bore it all
She could still hear me when I talked to her
Still came at my call
Even caught a ball occasionally
But the pain was great
You could see it in her eyes
It was time to end it I decided
And so did the vet when I took her to him
I had to sign a form permitting the euthanasia
We stayed in that waiting room
For what seemed an interminable time
A posh French poodle was ahead of us
Not to die obviously
But to make life more beautiful
The waiting was so hard for my dog and me
At last it was our turn
I patted her head
And we rose together
I handed her lead to the veterinarian
Who smiled knowingly
There was a last look from sad eyes
And then she was gone
I paid with my Visa at the door
And walked home alone
Reality
The truth is hard to locate these days
So many distractions intervene
People perform orchestrated lies on television
In the name of business
We are prepared to tolerate these attention getting intrusions
However inane or debasing they may be
As the quest for profit
Is a grail we are all supposed to drink from willingly
Recently my life was endangered
By a political leader who demanded a return to normality
Business as usual
Despite a dire need for lockdowns to be COVID safe
The action was said to be based on expert advice
Now the incidence of cases has grown alarmingly
Worse still
An even greater danger has been organised
Close contact with the virus is now defined
Not as a quarter but as four hours
Why this overtly contagious extension?
Again medical expertise is the declared safeguard
But I notice strong peer review,
The hallmark of true science, tends to disagree
As for me, a simple soul, merely in search of
The comfort of truth
I cannot understand why a virus which takes seconds to infect
Should be allowed four hours
Of course, this will have helpful administrative consequences
Reduce the queues for testing
And after all, we all have to die sometime
As for the experts
I tend to agree with the wonderful Gödel’s incompleteness theory
Experts are an essential part of life
But there are some things even they do not know
As for me
I adhere to my own reality, a humble quest for certainty,
I plan to switch the television off, listen to music,
Stay inside and securely lock the door.
royciebaby
Royce Levi Australian Teacher and Author 