Goes In Will Come Out

We start off early with the huge dozes  
cartoons have the most violent content
yes they always contained some
but the examples like Tom and Jerry, Roadrunner
were laced in fiction---pretty easy to figure out
a cat doesn't speak English
these days the lines are blurred
the reality and the made up
and what goes in will come out

The older children are indoctrinated into competitions
pageants, sports, and even for grades
zero-sum games where there can only be one winner
aggression adored and even spills over to loved ones
words like destroyed, smashed, and conquered emphasized
attributes of warriors and hunters lace the playing field
student athletes pretending to be students
and what goes in will come out

The top twenty arms sellers are largely
the nations with the largest militaries
so a company who can't sell it's product locally can always export
no scruples, "Lord Of War" replayed worldwide
Saddam Hussein, Osama Bin Laden, Bashar Hafez al-Assad
all allies the US gave weapons to
that are responsible for brutal acts against humanity
and what goes in will come out

I look for the peace makers but they are few and far between
at one time though in the minority
both major political parties had a smidgen
now military budgets are approved unanimously
a so called Nobel Peace Prize winner
moves into the White House and surrounds himself
with elitists who approved of Bush's lie
well to remember
what goes in will come out

"And there are lives in the balance
there are people under fire
there are children at the cannons
and there is blood on the wire."



Lyrics courtesy of Jackson Browne, "Lives In The Balance"