US & THEM

What’s in a name?

The bard had no idea about

The crazy times that were yet to come

Everything is in a name!

 

What is this place?

A temple

No, but before it was a temple?

It was a mosque

But before it was a mosque?

It was a temple

Before it was a temple?

Someone’s home

A place of worship

A palace

A kennel

A manger

Wait.

How far back do I have to go?

It depends on where you want to take your stand

Is it really important?

That question is again relative.

Is it right?

That is an irrelevant question!

 

Is this the place where Palestinians lived?

Depends on where you stand?

You mean this place belongs to the Jews

I did not say that

What about October 7^th?

What about October 8th, 9th, 10th …?

Leave these two questions aside

What about children and civilians?

This is not a relevant question!

 

Is Russia right in invading Ukraine?

Depends on where you want to stand?

So, Russia is right?

I did not say that.

Then Ukraine is right

You are saying it, not me!

Once again, what about children and civilians?

Do not you ever learn?

How many times will you ask irrelevant questions?

 

When two countries fight, what do we do?

We take sides

On ethical ground?

Of course not! We decide who we supply arms to

Is that right?

I am getting tired of your naivete

 

Will Trump be elected again?

Probably, yes!

What about fraud, mocking the disabled,

Disrespecting the women, insurrection, lying under oath?

You think the two are related?

Don’t they!

Facepalm!

 

Will we phase out fossil fuels?

Do we need to?

Don’t we?

You tell me!

I think we need to

Why?

Because!

Do not play with words

The evidence is plain

Says who?

Well.. everyone who believes in science

It is a hoax!

Says who

I

So there is no way to agree on this

I did not say that

I am saying let us continue till

We find a common ground

Ah! You agree to stop burning fossil

Till we come to an agreement

No, I am saying let us continue

To burn till we reach an agreement

At this rate there will be nothing

Left to burn soon

Precisely, Precisely!

 

We are heading towards the sixth extinction

What do you mean

This is the Anthropocene era

It is not even an official name

We are destroying the only world we have

Do not be a fearmonger

At this rate, we will all die soon

So, why bother?

Do we need a religion?

Of course!

Why?

How else can you control?

So, it is not about God

Never was, never will be

So, it is just a tool

A very powerful tool

Isn’t it wrong?

Depends on where you stand

What do you mean?

People are stupid, we need to control them

They do not know what is good for them

Do you know what is good for them

Irrelevant question.

But you are using it to control them

Yes, because I can

And why do people need to listen to you

They do not need to

But they do

That is because they are stupid.

So, you mean if they are clever, you will stop to matter

Ha Ha Ha! How naïve can you be

The clever ones will be silenced

But why will people allow that

Because, they are stupid.

 

You are destroying this world

I know

There will be no future

Sure, I know that too

Whatever it is, it will get worse!

History will judge you

What is history?

It is what we repeat endlessly

Morons of the past wanted to shape the future

They all failed

We are the new masters

We shape history.

We work on it till it reaches what we want it to be

Shape it again when the time comes

Some people believe that

Birds are spy robots

9/11 was a conspiracy

Democracy is for the weak

Nationalism is good

Immigrants are cockroaches

There is us and the rest is “them”

And “them” is evil

You read George Orwell, Ece Temelkuran , Jason Stanley, Arundathi Roy and Timothy Snyder

Hoping they expose the rot

We read them as guidebooks

You need a great mass to realize, rebel, and raise

We need a small group to remain steadfast

You believe that the right shall prevail

We know violence works

You want permanent peace

We rely on eternal war

You need proofs

We need only doubts

You must win

We

Just

Do

Not

Need

To

Fail!

 

Pic Courtesy: npr