A PERFECT AMERICAN : a dystopian poem, image & dialog in honor of George Orwell My brain is shrinking: I’m growing increasingly dumb. Hours & hours of television are making my conscience numb. I work without emotion like a well-programmed machine. However, there's little sense of caring: my life is a programmed routine. Fulfilling production quotas is easy & what I say is usually considered “correct.” However, I must mask any traces of doubt or anger – critics are marked derelict. Was there actually an invasion of Syria? Was the election of Donald Trump rigged? Did Libya's leader vanish because Washington willed it? Such “facts” are fading from memory Although I’m not a perfect citizen yet Homeland Security informs me I’m doing well: Soon I’ll be an exemplary citizen – a true patriotic Yankee ready to do whatever our leaders order, as predictable as Pavlov's bell. Terri: George Orwell would love this poem. Ted: We’re even better at manipulating emotion now. Sam: Isn’t human DNA is the basic problem? It seems flawed to me. Ted: Yeah (pouring himself a beer). Maybe so. Kris: Is utopia mere a matter of genetic engineering? Terri: I think you seriously overestimate the power of governments. Kris: (gerping loudly) And you underestimate the power of greed. ================================================================================= from _AmeriSong: Poetry, Art, & Dialogs about Amerika_ by T Newfields SUMMARY: A noir satire about disinformation and the warping of democracy in the United States. KEYWORDS: mutant democracy, brain washing, pseudo-democracy, American decline, dumbing-down information Author: T Newfields [Nitta Hirou / Huáng Yuèwǔ] (b. 1955) Begun: 1970 in Newtown, PA, USA / Finished: 2019 in Yokohama, Japan Creative Commons License: Attribution. {{CC-BY-4.0}} Granted < LAST http://www.tnewfields.info/AmeriSong/citizen.htm TOC http://www.tnewfields.info/AmeriSong/index.html NEXT > http://www.tnewfields.info/AmeriSong/sol.htm TRANSLATIONS ESPAÑOL: http://www.tnewfields.info/es/americano.htm NIHONGO: http://www.tnewfields.info/jp/amerikajin.htm FRANÇAIS: http://www.tnewfields.info/fr/parfait.htm