America could do better
Than the tyranny and corruption―
Than the dysfunction and disunity―
Than the waste and overspending
And the graft and plundering and constant war.

She could do better than the trafficking
And the drug trade and the toxic food.
She could do better than the stultifying schools
And the brainwashing media
And the reign of the medicine men.

She could do better than the wealth-robbing inflation
And the absurd tax rates
And the smothering tyranny of over-regulation.
She could even beat fractional reserve banking
(Though she’d have to learn what that is first.)

There is not a problem she cannot overcome, but this:
She cannot make the ignorant learn
And she cannot make the unconcerned care.
She cannot make the stubborn relent,
Or the hypocrite repent.

In other words, none of this reform
Can be accomplished by heavy-handed tyranny,
But can only happen organically through
The widespread, voluntary, and self-chosen
Reform of a great many Americans.

Even if she had to go to war to rid herself
Of the scoundrels and tyrants,
She would still, at the end of the day,
Be left wanting for enough people of good character
To right the ship of state thereafter
And sail it smoothly into the future.
Here people are, after all, mostly the result
Of the corrupt system of which we are speaking.
It is the misfit, then―the divergent soul,
Who marches to the wisdom of the ages
Rather than to the beat of the day―
Who must be found in large numbers
If she is to find her way.

America could do better,
But practically speaking,
She does not want to.
She does not yet want
To care that much,
Or to work that hard,
Or to bear the pressure
Of conflict.

And though some among her
Most certainly are willing,
They are simply too few in number,
And most of them are more inclined
To hope for a miracle rather
Than to make a plan.

They say many are now “waking up”,
But we’ll not know whether this
Is an authentic awakening
Until we see them take action.

She must decide what she wants,
Even as the tyrants and scoundrels
Are gaining speed in their rush
To loot us dry.

And we shall see whether they have yet
Got us drugged and toxified and malnourished
And disinformed and depressed and dull and
Divided and distracted enough with bread and circus
That we’ll continue to let them have their way
For as long as they want to have it.

America could do better,
But she would first
Have to want it.
And I don’t think
She can make up
Her drugged mind.

She wants a king,
And has wanted one
Ever since she first got a president.
And it is this mentality―wanting a king
Instead of wanting a valiant populace―
That has got her where she is.

It will be a very long time,
I’m afraid, before the majority
Will ever understand this problem
To tell it back to their kids as a matter of fact.

They assumed it in the beginning―
That the people wanted to be valiant.

But they were wrong.

You can’t fix this mess―
You can’t really fix this mess―
Unless you can fix the people―
The ones who are not listening
Because they are dull and misinformed
And proud and hypocritical and deceived
And over-committed and ignorant
And completely sold out to the idea
That we can turn all this around
If only we can get a good man in the White House.