Political Poems and Songs of Protest

Lemmings With Guns

"Some people just can't stand prosperity."

My Dad used to say that sometimes. It was his general comment when the nightly news featured a politician brought down by scandal, a sports star gambling away his winnings, or a celebrity overdose death. It always seemed unbelievable that someone with success fully in their grasp would simply throw it away. It's an all too common story, and not just on a personal level.

The Roman empire endured for more than 500 years. It was eventually brought down by the failure of the wealthy to pay taxes. The Roman Senate exempted themselves from taxation, then used that economic advantage to buy up more property. The tax base shrank inexorably, and Rome's defenses were reduced from a high of twenty-one legions to only six at the end. Rome is a cautionary example of how wealth is always redistributed. It may occur peacefully through taxation or violently through revolution, but redistribution always happens eventually. A society that concentrates its wealth in too few pockets is destined to fail.

American democracy has succeeded for 250 years, but now the base and deplorable are ready to throw it away for nothing more than 'owning' the libs. It seems shocking that more than 30% of Americans are eager to follow Rome's example and destroy their own prosperity. Why do the deplorables cheer tax cuts for the wealthy who sell beer and cigarettes, while willingly paying onerous 'sin' taxes themselves? And today's conservative leaders are like the shepherd who develops a taste for mutton and then wonders why his wool revenue is down. In the good old days of the 1950's, tax rates on the wealthy were 70% and the economy was strong. Tax rates are now down to 30% and the economy is weak. There could be a correlation.

The myth of lemmings plunging headlong over a cliff in response to population pressure is well established. It seems to strike a chord with the general public. Many still believe in these mass suicides, even though they've never actually been observed. The American fascination with gun violence may be a lemming-like response to too many years of prosperity. Unfortunately, our mass shootings are real, and they're observed almost daily. The fall of Western democracy may be inevitable, and the base desire for self-destruction may be an unavoidable natural phenomenon, but it seems like we should at least consider disarming the lemmings.

But some people just can't stand prosperity.