day THIRTEEN HUNDRED and ONE

I CEASE TO ASK WHAT INFORMS AMERICAN SOCIETY

“There's no such thing as society. There are individual men and women, and there are families. And no government can do anything except through people, and people must look to themselves first.”   Margaret Thatcher         

I cease to ask what informs American society.

Why?

Reagan and Thatcher wanted an absence

Of society,

Wanted only a collection of individuals

Seeking their own economic self-interest.

Their wishes have been realized and

What it has produced is a failed state.

It is painfully clear there is nothing

United about the United States.

It is a failed society, a failed culture,

An anti-society,

An anti-culture.

What is a failed state?

A failed state is when a government

Cannot provide basic services to its own people.

It is a failed state when it cannot provide healthcare

For everyone during a pandemic.

It is a failed state when it cannot provide jobs

During a pandemic.

It is a failed state when it cannot provide

Housing during a pandemic.

It is a failed state when it cannot provide

Debt relief during a pandemic.

It is a failed state when it cannot provide

Education during a pandemic.

It is a failed state when it cannot provide

For its working class during a pandemic.

It is a failed state

When the US Department of Labor’s

July jobless claims

Reach 47.2 million.

It is a failed state

When the Trump administration

Has known about the coronavirus

Since December 31, 2019

But did nothing until January 29,

When the White House

Announced in a memo  

Herr Trumpf’s Coronavirus Task Force.

Now six months later,

The current death toll over 160,000,

Trump’s response “It is as it is.”

Sinclair Lewis was right. It can happen here.  

--Victor Henry