A Cog in the Machine

When you are born, your mind is a blank slate: an empty canvas, bare of reason.    
Early on, our perception of reality is paved by the way it is described to us by others;  
Once we are older, it is our responsibility to learn to discern deception from the truth,    
Which lies in wait, cloaked beneath the veil of ignorance, steeped in traditions of the past.    
    
Sitting in class, immersed in deep thought, I look up to see everyone around me doing the same thing.    
Absorbed in their paperwork, not blinking an eye, they all seem to write in perfect unison.    
These working-class heroes, the future of this country, but mere cogs in a mindless machine;    
   
Indoctrinated by the traditions of the past and passed down for many generations,    
Perpetuated by the great selfishness and greed of ravenous wolves    
Which feed upon the weak and punish those who wander from the pack.    
   
Like robots we are simultaneously subjected to such repetitive tasks and tests,
Leaving little time for leisure; I am growing ever weary.    
What am I doing here? I don’t want to be part of this pitiful puppet show!    
What if I refuse to play the game today? I really could, you know?    
   
I’m interrupted from these fleeting thoughts by the teacher rapping at my desk,    
“Better get back to work,” she says, “you’ve only got 10 minutes left.”    
And just like that, I’m back to work, a program tuned so perfectly,    
Receding back into the mist that shrouds our true reality…    
   
But another cog, caught in the machine