the American Yankee
was the wonder of
creation––
strong, brave, practical,
inventive, ingenious,
independent––
trustworthy, loyal, helpful…
(you know the rest…)––
a go-any-where
do-what-needs-to-be-done
prairie train of
pioneers.
but the generation after
the greatest generation
wanted them to buy
indiscriminately, so
they made them
consumers.
& they wanted them
to need services, so
they made them
dependent.
& they hoped they would be
to be easy to govern,
so they made them proud &
complacent & kept them
scared.
& they wanted each of
them to imagine themselves
very special & remarkable,
so they inflated their needy
egos with
praise.
& they told them
they were the smartest,
the richest, the most powerful &
the best people on
earth.
& that they would never need
to watch out or worry
because they would always,
surely be
#1.