Poem: "Conspiracy vs. Democracy"

[ysabetwordsmith]

This poem came out of the February 2, 2021 Poetry Fishbowl. It was inspired and sponsored by Anthony Barrette. It also fills the "Orange (Mock) - Deceit" square in my 2-1-21 "The Language of Flowers" card for the Valentines Bingo fest.


"Conspiracy vs. Democracy"


On the right hand is conspiracy,
formed of opinion and emotion,
born of the individual interest.

On the left hand is democracy,
formed of fact and logic,
born of the common good.

Each undermines the other,
while fighting for its own survival.

In order to have a healthy society,
the individual and the community
must find a dynamic balance,
and both emotion and logic are
needed for sound decisions --

but opinion and fact are forever
faced off against each other, like
two dogs fighting over one bone.

Politics may run on opinion,
but the world runs on fact,

and to ignore that
is to be vulnerable.

* * *

Notes:

Conspiracy theories connect events in unlikely ways as seen in Q-anon. Statistically speaking, the bigger a conspiracy the faster it collapses.

Democracy relies on a set of shared principles that facilitate communal action.