My ideas for a new post for February 2024 didn’t necessarily include extremely serious subjects and themes. I had wanted to set a relaxed, quieter pace, at least for a while. However, when I read about the horrendous Post Office and Horizon scandal, I felt compelled to address it head on. Alongside the issue of the miscarriage of justice and the sheer scale of the impact on those involved, I wished to speak about technology as a whole concept. How it has taken over our lives and gone unchecked for many years.
I hope you find my poem thought-provoking. Let me know what you think via the Comments section. Until the next blog, happy reading and let’s all take some time off from technology regularly for our mental health.
The Tyranny of Technology
Sit down and relax,
while I relay a story of how
we got into this tangled net.
Sit up and take note,
as I reveal the shocks
that led to our digital downfall.
It started with our schooling,
where we learnt not to
question and defy the system.
It prevailed into our maturity,
our working lives, as we
held our tongues while lies grew.
It’s dawned on me, and many
others, finally, that we have
been mercilessly misinformed.
Taken to be dense, dim-witted,
by those with power and motive.
They expect us just to be dutiful.
Take for instance, the dark
devastation of the Post Office:
the cruel scandal unfolding daily.
The victims, the innocent
Sub postmasters, lives shattered,
by the Horizon software disaster.
Years of fighting the betrayal,
of a legal process that never gave
them justice, or dignity, or truth.
It has all been captured on
screen, after over two decades.
Shame it was not captured in reality.
Perhaps seeing the portrayal
of those who were wronged,
could give us cause to rebel.
People need to wake from the
clammy dreams of tech-based
slavery, and yes that means now.
Every waking moment we have
news, notifications, likes, feeds.
It’s a world drowning in data.
Time to see the devices for
what they really are: tools
in our hands, never ruling us.
A rethink is long overdue, and
lessons begin again so
that we can release ourselves.
It starts with our logic, our
compassion, to smash the
old systematic patterns.
