{"id":967,"date":"2013-07-22T11:50:34","date_gmt":"2013-07-22T16:50:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/toppun.com\/blog\/?p=967"},"modified":"2013-07-22T11:50:34","modified_gmt":"2013-07-22T16:50:34","slug":"poem-government-listening","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/toppun.com\/blog\/2013\/07\/22\/poem-government-listening\/","title":{"rendered":"POEM: Government Listening"},"content":{"rendered":"

I’d like a government that listens<\/span>
\nMore than listens in<\/span>
\nAnd NO, I don’t want fries with that!<\/span><\/p>\n

We need to truly listen to one another, in order to create together a democracy that represents us. \u00a0Democracy is an open dialogue, not one-sided surveillance. \u00a0Listening is not the same as listening in! \u00a0State secrecy always poses a threat to true democracy. \u00a0Secret state surveillance on its own citizens always poses a threat of privacy violations and abuse of power. \u00a0State secrecy threatens the ability of we the people to hold our government accountable. \u00a0In fact, state secrecy puts the power of government in somebody else’s hands — and who that is exactly is well…a secret!<\/p>\n

The last line of the poem is a stab at the automatic rhetoric that is often employed by government and corporations in a reactionary manner to any request — always trying to up-sell you to some predetermined agenda. \u00a0In the politics of state secrecy and spying, terms like “terrorism” and “way of life” are bandied about. \u00a0In the politics of our everyday economy, the truth on the ground is “would you like fries with that?” \u00a0When our government listens to us, it will actually answer our questions, not just spit back inane questions. \u00a0May we continue to work to assure that this becomes a fuller reality each day.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I’d like a government that listens More than listens in And NO, I don’t want fries with that! We need to truly listen to one another, in order to create together a democracy that represents us. \u00a0Democracy is an open … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[251,675,272,116,148,313,359,658,94,215,110,544,557,601,245,53,186,129,421,380],"class_list":["post-967","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-poems","tag-accountability","tag-citizens","tag-democracy","tag-economy","tag-government","tag-inane","tag-life","tag-poems","tag-poetry","tag-politics","tag-power","tag-questions","tag-reactionary","tag-reality","tag-rhetoric","tag-short-poems","tag-state","tag-terrorism","tag-truth","tag-work"],"yoast_head":"\nPOEM: Government Listening | Poems | Top Pun's Poetry, Funny Puns, Free Posters, Public Health Radio Show! %<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"POEM: Government Listening, Poems, Accountability, Citizens, Democracy, Economy, government, Inane, Life, Poems, Poetry, Politics, Power, Questions, Reactionary, Reality, Rhetoric, Short Poems, State, Terrorism, Truth, Work Top Pun's Poetry, Funny Puns, Free Posters, Public Health Radio Show! 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