When Genius Kneels to Tyranny

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It is the great tragedy of our time

That the brilliance of our brightest minds,

Endowed with the rare capability of assuaging humanity’s dolor and suffering,

Should instead find themselves ensnared,

Serving the very hegemony which perpetuates this pain.

When genius bows before tyranny

Humanity is twice plundered,

Once by affliction itself, and

Subsequently by the betrayal of its highest potential.

Yet perhaps an even profounder cataclysm resides

Not simply in the capitulation of such intellects to the architects of suffering,

But in their delusional righteousness

Seduced by an arrogance masquerading as acumen

They fancy themselves sole custodians of humanity’s elusive panacea

Thus, they vindicate their collusion with oppression,

Beseeching humanity to patiently endure torment while anticipating their proffered salvation,

Deciding to be oblivious to the incremental amplification of injustice wrought by each moment of delay

Humanity is a commodity for their hands dripping with avarice and power.

Yet humanity discerns acutely that the price of respite is counted in temporal sacrifice,

And the sanctuary sought may indeed exact mortality as its toll, its price

Nevertheless, humanity has perennially displayed its fortitude,

Embracing pain and even demise willingly, provided,

And only provided, that liberation rather than subjugation constitutes the ultimate reward

We have been shepherded by heroes, who took point and endured the first sufferrings, for humanities cause

These noble aspirations, once championed by these genuine exemplars, amocked,

Sadly, and usurped by those self-styled geniuses

For humanity to reconcile itself to sacrifice

It must fervently believe the terminus of suffering promises life affirmed

Not a constrained subsistence

The solution tendered must never be the oppressive silence that extinguishes the vital spark of existence

But rather the liberty to thrive with dignity, sanguinity and above all hope.

Therefore, it is time we desist from venerating those who have commodified humanity’s welfare for private gain

Those whose ostentatious morality serves merely to pacify their nocturnal conscience

They have forfeited all esteem

For brilliance sequestered for individual enrichment rather than communal prosperity is brilliance squandered,

Perhaps brilliance that, indubitably, never truly existed from the prometheus of it all.

Genius that elects complacency over compassion

Silence over rectitude, and cupidity over generosity

Forfeits its claim to genius entirely

It degenerates into mere vanity, unworthy of approbation and displays just a fool

If their deeds stand inconsequential to humanity’s shared tribulations,

Then unequivocally, they stand inconsequential to us all.

Hear me a second, if they are irrelevant to humanity’s shared struggle,

Then they’re irrelevant to us all.

— Chris Jones, inspired by his hero that he never met.