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Sunday, January 27, 2008

Poetry for Thought: Modifications of "First they came…" by Martin Niemöller

The original poem is as follows, translated from the German in which it was written:

When the Nazis came for the communists, I remained silent; I was not a communist.
When they locked up the social democrats, I remained silent; I was not a social democrat.
When they came for the trade unionists, I did not speak out; I was not a trade unionist.
When they came for the Jews, I remained silent; I wasn't a Jew.
When they came for me, there was no one left to speak out.
- "First they came…" by Martin Niemöller

It's a good argument against political apathy. Just because what is happening politically is not happening to you right now does not mean it never will. We have a similar situation in the United States where the Republicrats (Republicans and Democrats are two sides of the very same party) are performing the very same act right under our noses, and it is up to us to smell the salts before it is too late.

To help clarify, I am going to wax poetic now. If you don't care for poetry, this is your cue to stop reading. ;)

It's funny

I was afraid of drugs harming people, so I made them illegal. It's funny, there seems to be harder drugs now.
I was afraid of guns killing people, so I made them illegal. It's funny, there seems to be more violence now.
I was afraid of immigrants taking jobs, so I made them illegal. It's funny, there seems to be more offshoring now.
I was afraid of a free market cheating people, so I limited it. It's funny, there seems to be more black markets now.
I was afraid of dissent breeding terrorists to kill people, so I made dissent illegal. It's funny, there seems to be more people protesting.

I was afraid of freedom, so I made it illegal. It's funny... I still feel afraid.

"First They Came..." US edition

When they came for those with vices, I remained silent; I had no vice.
When they came for the gun owners, I remained silent; I had no guns.
When they came for the Arabs, I remained silent; I was not an Arab.
When they came for the activists, I remained silent; I was not active.
When they came for me, there was no one left to speak out; I was not spared.


Thank you, I'll be here until Friday.

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