"Sociology"

from The Disciplines of Existence, Part Two:  The Sciences of the Soul, Chapter Two:  Sociology

The struggle between communal living and
     the solitary life is endless;
And in the mind, the balance between intimacy
     and distance is tenuous.
We fight tendencies towards every-man-for-himself,
     and keeping our chins up,
But, in the end, we surrender to selfishness,
     knowing that solitude's enough.
We persecute those who have found room within their
     lives for others besides themselves;
We drive them from us until they retreat, bewildered,
     into their own withdrawals.
The promise of natural selection gives hope for the
     demise of their weakness;
Through isolation, identification and action we can
     enforce loneliness.
In time they will die out, leaving no descendents,
     not even distant relations;
The inferiority we project reveals us as the
     superior ones.
There is no room among the masses to make any
     concessions to the recluse;
An unfeeling, insecure majority cannot allow them
     to reproduce.
Emotions bring discomfort, we must be oblivious
     to the pains of others;
There is too muck progress to be made to willingly
     be love or hate's prisoners.
The evidence clearly shows that no benefits
     come from emotional excess;
It makes life untidy, makes people face themselves,
     makes all the tears difficult to suppress.
Are the rights of society superior to those of
     individuals?
We hold our riches up to ourselves, but they still
     keep finding flaws in our jewels.
We have refused to recognize the reality of
     our interdependence;
We reject our human-ness, embrace the social
     norms and values of bees and ants.
We see those that feel as less productive,
     deserving to die--no apology;
They interrupt our mechanical lives,
     complicating our sociology.
Despite the loss of one lowly worker, we cannot falter,
     our work continues;
We stop momentarily, lose our rhythm, push the dead
     away--no time to lose.

CWR April 1992