There are rules for a reason
Living together requires mutual consideration
Don’t lie, cheat or steal
That’s the way to get along.
My daughter’s fifth grade class likes it
Knowing how to behave in school
Classroom expectations set out clearly
Based on what’s fair all around.
I grew up taught to be polite to everyone
But some people make exceptions for themselves
As surely you have noticed aggressive drivers
Weaving through traffic creating a hazard.
Going for a walk in the park I see how many
Dog owners let their pets off leash
Saying the animal is friendly
Wanting it to be happy running free.
When exceptions become the rule
Like when the anti-vaxxers opt out of community
There comes a point where immunity fails
And epidemics ensue spreading rampantly among us.
The ethos these days that admires bad behavior
That celebrates the people who game the system
Calls into question any trust between people
So essential to our social fabric.
There’s a class of people who make rigged rules
Business owners paying less than the value of the work
Getting rich taking profit from those workers
Claiming it is their right as individuals.
Those people in power run a fixed game
Changing the rules as circumstances require
Declaring whatever will be to their advantage
No matter what harm comes to others.
Their system so debased and corrupted with cronies
Their preposterous buffoon with his orange comb-over hair
Whose claim to fame is getting rich through deceit
Sets the standard ever lower beneath and below.
At the top of the headlines that reality show fake
Tweets his daily assaults on our sensibilities
Making stuff up and inciting such vile hatred
All in service of his ilk looting the treasury.
But if you talk to strangers wherever you go
You’ll find so many good people
You’ll know the great majority show kindness
Ready to follow rules that benefit everyone.
