Dr Peter White's Blog

Thoughts and comments from Dr Peter White -- political, philosophical, spiritual, musical and more

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Location: Brisbane, Queensland, Australia

I am retired from the Uni. of Queensland, and have numerous interests inside and outside of the uni. I play classical, bluegrass, country and folk guitar (hows that for a mix?) I am a member of the Australian Labor Party and am currently branch secretary of the Mt Coot-tha branch. I'm also involved in developing virtual reality builds and websites. Never bored!

Wednesday, February 13, 2019

Happy 2019...

Happy 2019.  Let's hope it goes better than 2018. 

Now that the amenities are over with, I offer this poem for a start to the year. 

How the End Begins

(or a Recipe for Disaster)

So this is how it all starts, the end; 
A dislike for someone not like us:
A darker skin in our sea of white
Or a faith just seen as wrong. 
Then, add a bit of glib talk,
    no credence, just smooth
To beguile and to tempt
The disaffected to take up the chant.  

Now, after this stews awhile, 
and the growing anger emerges,
Add a tiny bit of power to start -
    stirred with a good dose of 
Self-righteous smugness,
And then trigger a small demonstration,
Where someone might be killed.

Then, it's on for one and all!
Stir in a bit more power, and then
Lead the willing hordes to larger
And greater
Explosions of hate and un-reason. 

Keep at this for as along as it works, or 
Until the mass eruption.
And through the processes aforementioned
Be sure to add lots and lots of lies, but
Calling them the Truth. 

Now, the final power grab, and after
Comes the ukase, the purge, the destruction
Of what went before.
And the waning of reason.
The demise of virtue,
Then the blessing of war. 
This is how the end begins, 
And this is how we begin the end.