I know you feel it. I know you all feel it:
This world is broken; we are broken
We walk around and pretend, but our smiles are just tokens
Paper masks that hide a fear, too deep, to be spoken
A fear that life may pass us by while we play by this system’s rules
A fear that we failed to even try for fear of looking like damn fools
It’s a game, it’s a game; it’s all just a game
And this game is really fear, to use another name
Instead of being human and being open, we disconnect and play it cool
Instead of love and raw emotion, we stay divided and we act cruel
It’s a game, it’s a game; it’s all just a game.
And this game is just the system, to use another name
This system has us running around
Like. Empty. Human. Shells.
Too asleep to resist it
And buying everything it sells
But can’t you see the bigger picture
Don’t you see the wider trap?
It’s just a ruse to make us feel empty
So we’ll fill the void with material scraps
But material objects can’t fill the void
It’s just our money and soul they sap
For it’s a game, it’s a game; it’s all just a game
And this game is just the rat race, to use another name
It’s a race to the bottom
A race to the end
We’re isolated and we feel lonely
Despite a million Facebook friends
For it’s a game, it’s a game; it’s all just a game
“Modern man”, and modern worlds
Obsessed with modern gadgets
These “modern girls”
Why not simplify
This “modern world”
For it’s a game, it’s a game; it’s all just a game
And this game is social indoctrination, to use another name
And the result is human commodification, total enslavement; such a shame
We’re a humanity in crisis
A society in decline
But the crux of the crisis, is that the decline is by design
For it’s a game, it’s a game
And that’s the essence of the game
© 2018
Ron Horn said:
For me this poem expresses what many experience currently living in capitalist societies. We are trained to relate to things instead of each other. Our masters in the capitalist ruling classes are obsessed with things of wealth and power, and try to inculcate this same obsession in us to better exploit us.
Consequently we devalue each other in preference to things; and being socialized in this culture, we often model their behavior by treating each other as things that we can use to accumulate more wealth and control of others. It’s all a game in the sense that we feel our lives are being played out by some alien rules instead of living lives centered in our human experience and being creators of our own lives. Those who succumb completely to this experience lose their humanity and end up as sociopaths who inflict unfathomable harm on others.
Perhaps the Palestinian heritage of this Canadian helped her to see what others only feel at times.
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Ghada Chehade said:
Thanks for your poignant insight, Ron!
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