"Pity the Nation," by Lawrence Ferlinghetti:

[tblue37]

Pity the nation whose people are sheep,
and whose shepherds mislead them.
Pity the nation whose leaders are liars, whose sages are silenced,
and whose bigots haunt the airwaves.
Pity the nation that raises not its voice,
except to praise conquerors and acclaim the bully as hero
and aims to rule the world with force and by torture.
Pity the nation that knows no other language but its own
and no other culture but its own.
Pity the nation whose breath is money
and sleeps the sleep of the too well fed.
Pity the nation — oh, pity the people who allow their rights to erode
and their freedoms to be washed away.
My country, tears of thee, sweet land of liberty.”

[Wounded Bear]

1. "Tears of thee..."

[AJT]

2. Written in 2007.....

Hard to believe it wasn't written today.

[tblue37]

4. In 2007 we still had W, and torture was certainly on the front burner. nt

[RussellCattle]

3. Read Ferlinghetti in college over 50 years ago. Was surprised to see...

....that he's still around. 100 years old last March.

[murielm99]

5. Have you ever been to his bookstore in San Francisco?

City Lights! Go there if you get a chance.

[jalan48]

8. Great bookstore and an interesting part of the City.

[RussellCattle]

9. Have not been there but will add it to our plans....

...for this fall's road trip to California. Thanks.

[KT2000]

7. Wow!

Good for him!

[mountain grammy]

10. Is he? Amazing.

I bought A Coney Island Of the Mind over 50 years ago. Still on my shelf.

[Jeffersons Ghost]

6. K&R

[calimary]

11. Now there's a name I haven't heard in awhile.

Thanks for the readable treat, tblue37!

[tblue37]

16. You're very welcome. It is just so apropos. nt

[Pendrench]

12. Hi tblue37 - Thank you for posting! Have you seen this video?

One of my all-time favorites.

Tim

[tblue37]

17. I saw it, but I am very hearing impaired, so I can't listen on a computer. nt

[warmfeet]

13. No truer words.

Who will pity us if we do not change course radically?

Probably no one.

Well deserved.

[PatrickforO]

14. I seem to be bookmarking more threads lately.

This one certainly is worthy.

[Uncle Joe]

15. Kicked and recommended.

Thanks for the thread tblue.

[tblue37]

18. You're welcome. nt

[elder phd]

19. far more timely than 2007

written in 1933!
and originally not by ferlinghetti but kahlil gibran (this also inspired a version by robert fisk):

“Pity the nation that is full of beliefs and empty of religion.
Pity the nation that wears a cloth it does not weave
and eats a bread it does not harvest.

Pity the nation that acclaims the bully as hero,
and that deems the glittering conqueror bountiful.

Pity a nation that despises a passion in its dream,
yet submits in its awakening.

Pity the nation that raises not its voice
save when it walks in a funeral,
boasts not except among its ruins,
and will rebel not save when its neck is laid
between the sword and the block.

Pity the nation whose statesman is a fox,
whose philosopher is a juggler,
and whose art is the art of patching and mimicking

Pity the nation that welcomes its new ruler with trumpeting,
and farewells him with hooting,
only to welcome another with trumpeting again.

Pity the nation whose sages are dumb with years
and whose strongmen are yet in the cradle.

Pity the nation divided into fragments,
each fragment deeming itself a nation.”


― Kahlil Gibran, The Garden of The Prophet