An Ode to Visionary Practicality

                                                                                                                              Earth Manifesto Insights

                                                                                                              Dr. Tiffany B. Twain  

                                                                                                               April 2005

Oh, come, all ye faithful, joyful and triumphant, let the words ring out loud
Have mercy and compassion on your fellow citizens and Planet Earth
Since we are all in this together, and Jesus might not soon come to save us
And we must clearly recognize that empathy and reason have great worth.

True morality is characterized by what is best for the common good
And hatred and divisiveness must not be allowed to tear people apart
The poor and the helpless must not be sacrificed to enrich the few
And peace, compassion, and charity must not be banished from our heart.

"An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth" is a very primitive moral code
An aspect of early human behavior that made it necessary to create the Golden Rule
So that we may live in civilized groups without all becoming blind and toothless
Establishing fairness and justice, and not treating each other in a manner so cruel.

America is angst-filled, and divided and polarized by intolerant righteousness
In reaction to the September 11th terrorist attacks and a multitude of cultivated fears
Yet we must all come together and choose to make our country truly great
Moving forward, not backward, and being caringly committed to sharing our cheers.

Ominous wolves in the dark forest symbolically threaten us all
As apprehensions, anger and uncertainty make us feel so very insecure
And the public is manipulated into supporting shortsighted policies
Divided and alienated and exploited, which is a thing very hard to cure.

Oh, say can you see by the dawn's early light, fellow Americans
How so proudly we hail to the dominant paradigms that are reigning
To the radical conservatives who harshly pursue their retrogressive goals
While most of us barely pause to wonder what alternatives we are distaining.

Brilliantly clever politicians confuse the great issues confronting humanity
Pandering to prejudices, greed, anxiety and the basest of emotions
Allowing the rich and the powerful to prosper at the public's expense
Devastating society, the environment, and peace in pursuing misguided notions.

Civilization grows more precarious as the right wing consolidates control
Undermining unity, understanding, cooperation, progressiveness and peace
Aggressively seeking supremacy, economic domination, and overwhelming power
In order to push ruthlessly for profit, privilege and obedience without surcease.

Trust our leaders to be inflexible, never to flip flop no matter what, as they boast,
To be spendthrifts and to borrow money from the future in a great foolish gamble
To spend incredible sums on arrogant militarism and tax breaks for the wealthy
While stinting on programs that are needed --- let us roll, they say, not ramble.

Renewable energy and sustainable growth certainly will eventually prevail
Over lavish consumerism, enormous waste, greedy misuse and unwise exploitation
The only question is how extreme the environmental damage we do must become
Before the greedy forces of the Status Quo yield to the sensible in our nation.

The Green Movement encompasses many, many wonderful and wise alternatives
That unfortunately have suffered a terrible setback in the elections of November 2004
Sadly so, since conservation, efficiency and wise design are critical to our future
And it is unwise to have inevitable progress and innovation delayed so much more.

It is a clear that making friends is a far better plan than making enemies
Yet we allow our leaders to create ever-greater inequalities and social stresses
Letting the powerful push agendas that are so fundamentally unfair and unjust
Harming others, polluting the environment, and creating greater and greater messes.

Ask not, Americans, what your country can do for you
Ask what our leaders are doing to our country, please do!
To our communities, to other nations, to Planet Earth and to future generations
And demand better, because we must boldly and intelligently begin anew.

The powerful run our government, their interests conflicting with the common good
Their principles harsh and ruthless, and quite opposed to fair compromise
They appeal to our blind faith with rosy words and fine-sounding arguments
But deceive us with their actions, which are cast in a falsely compassionate guise.

People are insecure, self-righteous, spiteful, easily manipulated and gullible
And our clever Republican leaders have brilliantly exploited these vulnerabilities
To get elected to Four More Years of the same regressive and irresponsible rule
Despite the urgency of the need for fiscal balance, social progress and basic civilities.

Whatever happened to the wisdom of smaller, less intrusive federal government
To budgetary responsibility, wise planning, integrity, and most of all to fairness
How have we let ourselves enter this Our-God-Is-Better-than-Your-God battle
Alienating ourselves and other countries, and pursuing true justice with rareness?

Profits cannot be allowed to be far more important than people on Earth
And special privileges cannot be defended at an extremely high social cost
"Liberty and Justice for All" must not be completely stripped of meaning
And progressiveness cannot be dismissed, or our democracy will be lost.

Our national community is far more complex than "God, guns and gays"
And blood-for-oil policies are a pathetic way to keep us dependent on fossil fuels
The ecological integrity of the environment is of paramount importance to us
And NOW is the time we must stand up and support intelligent ecological rules.

Ignorance and small-mindedness must be combated with education and reason
And rancor, strife, and inequality of opportunity must be minimized in our nation
In favor of fairness and broad-mindedness towards differences of color, sex, and creed
Rather than allowing bigotry and policies arising from a simplistic view of Creation.

Spiritual seekers say that there is a natural essence of ethical action
One that resides in love and compassion and non-violent behavior
Others speculate that it is quite irresponsible and rather immoral
To exploit people by using fear, anger, hatred, and blind belief in a Creator.

Hate, and hate masquerading as love, cannot be allowed to dominate us
To have a central place and significant sway in our human societies
Racism, prejudice, homophobia, and institutionalized discrimination
Must be marginalized, and should not be encouraged with religious pieties.

Our government is not spinning out of control, but rather into it, absolutely
Striving for unchecked power, subjugating people, other nations, and the Earth
Convinced of their rectitude with a religious self-righteous dogmatic certitude
But when we look deeper, it is clear that we must give progressiveness a fair berth.

In times of great external threats most citizens support their government
No matter how wrong its leaders may be, or how extreme its actions are cynical
Regardless of how much they exploit insecurities and pander to the right wing
Betraying our trust in authority by implementing policies that are so cold and clinical.

AGGRESSION in an increasingly crowded world cannot be so easily condoned
Much less established as a primary pillar of our foreign policy and international action
Doctrines claiming that we are good, and others evil, are used to justify might as right
But this is dangerous ideology in a complex world, and cannot be given great traction.

These words are truth, of this there is little doubt in my mind
And soon we would be wise to give the truth our intelligent attention and heed
For we win a myopic Pyrrhic victory to fight an endless War on Terrorism
By addressing everything except INJUSTICE, while encouraging ever-greater greed.

Our motives for war are suspicious when the facts are really examined
For war diverts us from serious domestic problems, and war profiteers abound
Actions speak much more forcefully than words, no matter what they say
And divisive, unjust, ruinously expensive aggression is policy that is unsound.

Truth and honesty are virtues our democracy must not abandon
For though faith and trust are important things in which to aspire and believe
We must not be foolish, or allow ourselves to be brainwashed by the powers that be
And remember the 1971 Pentagon Papers that prove the government likes to deceive.

                                                                                                         --- Tiffany Twain