The Demise of the Golden Rule

It is not the concept of tolerance,
for it is a most worthy quality,
but the use and distribution thereof
that disturbs me.

How is it, then, that screams of “intolerance”
emanate most stridently
from those who preach uniformity
of beliefs?

Population grows, and jobs relocate;
economic migration, refugees and the dispossessed,
seek to better their lives
and we complain.

We are threatened by our insecurities,
incensed by the politics of fear,
and embarrassed by empathy,
which is hovering near extinction.

We have all become the “me” generation,
and seek only our betterment,
while refusing to see that can only be
a societal endeavour, to benefit all.

A drone collective, we moan in concert,
each movement controlled, orchestrated
by choirmasters who have no skill,
nor interest in the tune, or the chorus.

It is not the concept of tolerance,
for it is a most worthy quality,
but the increasing rarity of it
that saddens me, for us all.