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Government has no other end, but the preservation of property.

quote by John Locke
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Property O My Property

property o my property
i use to be a man fine and witty
no cares in the world full of terimity
untill the heavens fell off my dad was murdered
and i was stranded with his property

property o my property
three flats into one, office, home and land what fun
rentals 6% home appreciation by 10%
money in black some in white
o my friends try and understand my plight

property o my property
some say it's worth 50 crs some say it's less
i use to be a free bird before
god knows how i landed up in this mess
brokers, dalla's, buyers and sellers
i have two houses still i am a lonely dweller

property o my property
what the hell to do with you
buy or sell take or give
now my life is not a life but a hell in which i live
property my property
o my dad's property

property o property o my dad's property
my well wishers say i cannot be trusted
to handle all this and i sure will be busted
so my friends you see my situation is dire
it's time like this that i feel i am walking on fire

property o property my dad's property

poem by Anuj Tikku
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Property

I'll be your fantasy, but I won't be your property
Love you eternally, but I'll never be your property
Love from me's not guaranteed
Just because you think I'm property
I can love you totally and still not be your property
Every girl and boy wants to grow up to be loved someday
And you can't wait to give your heart away
But it's like worship in their eyes walking down the aisle
When you slip on that ring, they start to treat you like a thing, yeah
I call it slavery when you call someone your property
Don't waste your vanity, I will never be your property
Something wonderful happens when people fall in love
Your happiness is all they're thinking of
But it's like "anything you say" 'til the wedding day
When they get it in ink, they start to tell you what to think, yeah
Darkest day in history when someone invented property
Cause of our misery is the constant lust for property
Since god began it, we've been dividing up the planet
When you see something you want it
You've got to put your name tag on it
And we go on carving, meanwhile half the world is starving
It's a crime .. hands off what is mine!
Take all you can 'til you slam on the parking brake
And you need space to make your own mistakes
But it's like "I won't hold you back" 'til the bags are packed
Then they're struttin' about like they own you inside out
I call it slavery (you can't make me a slave),
when you call someone your property
Don't waste your vanity (don't be so vain),
I will never be your property
Darkest day in history (why did you have to do a thing like that)
when someone invented property
Cause of our misery (misery, misery)
is the constant lust for property

song performed by Todd Rundgren
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The Impact Of Poverty On Education

THE IMPACT OF POVERTY ON EDUCATION.

INTRODUCTION

There are so many different tools that have been thought relevant in people’s developmental projects both at individual and societal levels. Education is one of such practical tools. Importantly to note, there are also various meanings that denote the broad term ‘education’. In this essay, however, we are mainly interested in defining formal education since our discussion will dwell much on it. According to Nwomonoh (1998) , formal education is the process of gaining knowledge, attitudes, information and skills during the course of life especially at school.

Though education is said to be so instrumental in human development but also in the revamping of world economies, it is very unfortunate that education systems, world wide, are being held to ransom all because of poverty at both governmental and household levels. According to Thibault (2009) , poverty means the shortage of common things such as food, clothing, shelter and safe drinking water, all of which determine our quality of life. It may also include lack of access to opportunities like education and employment which aid the escape of poverty.

Problems in our society are interconnected in one way or the other, just like poverty and personal family problems affect a student’s capability to learn. Improving education entails improving the living conditions of students. Having in mind that education is basically responsible for the development of many countries including Malawi, as the back ground suggests, we cannot afford to bypass such a vital element without a mention. Considering also the fact that poverty is one of the forces that come in the way; blocking the success of education, we feel it rational to look at how the two realities, education and poverty, affect each other both positively and negatively. That is also why we are convinced that this topic is worth studying. Our awareness of this source, poverty, and its impact on education will enable us devise some proper measures of intervention with the hope of minimizing the negative impact of poverty on education. This point, in short, explains the purpose of our investigation and why we are so passionate in getting into this research. During the whole discussion we are being guided by two questions thus, ‘does poverty really affect education? And if it does, what points do we have on the positive and negative impacts of poverty on education? ’

METHODOLOGY

The study was basically qualitative in approach because of the nature of the issue that was being addressed. This was the case because the issue of how poverty affects education, both positively and negatively is particularly very difficult to predict the conclusions without penetrating into the core of the issue. For instance, one may unreasonably rush into concluding that poverty affects education negatively only and we cannot even dare to speak of poverty affecting education positively. The study was conducted in three schools namely; Mulunguzi, Masongola and Chirunga Private Secondary schools in Zomba district between 24th April and 3rd May. In this research we used both government and private funded schools to have a more balanced result on how poverty affects formal education in these different institutions. The information required for the study was collected through group interviews of form three students and individual interviews with teachers using semi-structured interview schedules. We opted to use these interviews in the first place because we felt books are more theoretical whereas a field research is practical and it involves real life experiences. Nevertheless, we still used desk research as a supplementary source of information and for clarity in some areas.

RESULTS

Positive impacts of poverty on education
To begin with, poverty encourages one to get educated and of course work hard in class. This is because the problems faced due to poverty are very serious and therefore students who are from poverty stricken families strive to end the problems and one of the best solutions is through education. That is to say, if a person, for instance, due to poverty, is taking just a meal in a day instead of three meals, and again if he/she is sometimes sleeping on an empty stomach, he/she will resort to education bearing in mind that if he/she gets educated they will secure formal employment and eventually be able to make ends meet for themselves as well as fending for their families.

Not only does poverty encourage one to get educated, but also it helped in the introduction of free primary education. In Malawi, for instance, when Bakili Muluzi became president, he introduced free primary education and he had eliminated the requirements for school uniform forthwith (Kadzamira & Rose,2001) . This had increased the access to education dramatically as those pupils who were coming from less privileged families were also given access to this free primary education. It should also be noted that the free primary education system was not only implemented to fulfill an electoral pledge but also bearing in mind that some families were not able to send their children to school due to poverty. Free primary education was there to deal with illiteracy by reducing families’ direct costs of education. Again due to the influx in the number of pupils in primary schools; there was a lack of teachers. Sonani (2002) , testifies that the Ministry of Education re-employed all retired teachers below the age of 65. This also meant that the once retired teachers got back to their source of income which helped them support their families as well as hauling the economy of the country. The implementation of free primary education system in Malawi forced the government to provide infrastructures so as to accommodate the large number of pupils in these schools. Simply put, poverty had led to the introduction of free primary education which means that more children are going to school, and again more teachers are being trained and getting employed and finally the construction of school blocks culminating into infrastructural development, all these branching from poverty.

We may also look at poverty from a positive angle bearing in mind that when a country is poor more funds and donations come into it. These funds and donations are also given to the education sector to build new infrastructures and in the maintenance of already existing ones in the sector. These privileged countries also provide learning materials to schools that are poor as a result students in these less privileged schools perform well in accordance with the amount and quality of the learning materials that they have been provided with. For instance, a United States based non governmental organization known as “Water for People” handed over 44 water toilets they built to Chimwankhunda primary school. The school toilet facilities had been vandalized 11 years ago but because of poverty the school could not renovate them (Gausi,2007) .

In addition, these funds and donations help more people to get educated. This is so because people can use funds as school fees, pocket money and buy stationery. The donations may include library books, chairs and writing materials. These can make a conducive environment for one to learn since there will be enough facilities at the school. For instance, with funding from the “United States Agency for International Development” (USAID) ,3,300 needy Malawian primary school girls are being funded. They are being provided with food, clothing, school supplies and hygienic products like soap and body lotion (Muhaliwa,2005) . Likewise,500 pupils at Katoto primary school in Mzuzu no longer sit on the floors during lessons courtesy of Southern Bottlers Limited and Lions Club of Limbe. Before these funds and donations, pupils used to sit on the floor due to scarcity of desks. These donations improved the pupils’ school attendance in such a way that pupils have started going to school regularly.

In the same line, a needy student can be given a scholarship to go further with his/her education. In this case the scholarship is given to the person just because he/she cannot manage to pay school fees on her own. This in turn benefits the needy person and the community at large. In this situation poverty has assisted in the development of education in an area by beckoning funds and donations from rich countries and organisations.

Further more; in most cases poverty facilitates one’s ambitions to attain formal education. It becomes easier for a poor child to put much of his concentration on education as compared to a rich child. This is because a poverty stricken student will have less destructive materials for entertainment. He/she will also have less or no money to indulge him/herself in activities that require spending a lot of money for instance, drinking beer. Sometimes even if the child can find money he/she can buy basic needs and not just spending it anyhow. Contrast to this a rich child may obtain things like ipods, mp3s, games for entertainment. These things in most cases destruct the concentration of students in their studies. As a result, one’s class performance is negatively affected since most of his/her time is being spent on entertainment.

Negative impacts of poverty on education

Just as a coin has got two sides, a head and a tail, poverty also, apart from having positive impacts on education, it does have negative impacts on the same. We have talked much about the positive face of poverty on education. We shall surely do ourselves injustice if we do not look at the negative part. In spite of the fact that poverty has an impact on education that is worth complimenting, we cannot afford in this discussion to overlook the point that so many students have been forced to leave the corridors of learning institutions due to the same poverty. One of the reasons that force some students leave the learning institutions prematurely is pregnancy, which in most cases, come because of poverty. It is almost common knowledge that a good number of students who come from poor families wish they could be sailing in the same boat with those who come from well to do families as far as luxurious life is concerned. The poor students constantly feel that there is something missing at the core psychologically. With this feeling in their minds, they tend to regard themselves as incomplete and not accepted socially. Consequently, they envy the rich students and squarely want to posses the things that are associated with the rich students. Very unfortunate that the poor students’ parents cannot afford to fulfill their children’s desires like what the rich parents would provide. Because the pull towards recognition is too strong for the poor students to resist, they end up in indulging themselves into prostitution in their search for money. Pity indeed that instead of recreating, as anticipated, their promiscuous behavior sees most of them getting pregnant and for some very unfortunate ones get even HIV and other STIs. From this discussion, commonsense convinces us that this school dropp out due to pregnancy is one of the negative impacts of poverty on education.

Adding more flesh to this discussion, we can also appreciate that hunger has been so instrumental in bringing down the standards of education world wide, in general, and Malawi, in particular. Frankly speaking, there are very few students if not none, who concentrate on their studies on empty stomachs. Food is one of the basic needs that every person is obliged to have if he/she is to survive. It is not surprising, therefore, to see some students performing miserably in class simply because they have not taken enough food or they have taken none altogether. The question of hunger finds its way into the education system because the government has failed to provide adequate food in most of its boarding schools. This is poverty at governmental level. There are also some students who are not boarders but still endure the hostile reality of hunger right in their homes. This is due to poverty at household level. It is sad that poverty, both at governmental and household level, has helped in engineering the deteriorating of education standards in Malawi.

Bearing in mind that it is only the eagle that can tell us the real whisper of a cloud, we visited Masongola Secondary school with the hope of getting first hand information from the students and their teachers since they are the ones who mostly benefit or get destructed by poverty. The Masongola secondary school students and their teacher, Mr. Enock Abraham, testified to us during an interview that government’s inability to provide extra food, apart from the usual beans that the institution offers, has seen many students developing ulcers. It would sound bizarre to reason that one can attend classes whilst he/she is on a hospital bed battling with ulcers. The Masongola students further testified that most poor students who have ulcers just bow down out of the race of learning because they cannot afford to buy extra food whenever the institution is serving the students beans.

This pitiful development goes beyond the boundaries of Masongola secondary school. Mulunguzi secondary school as Mr……the head teacher at the institution testifies, has not been spared from the scourge of school dropp outs simply because the school has not been able to provide extra or adequate food to students who cannot take what their friends take on health grounds. Needless to say this leaves the education standards in Malawi vacillating. It is a pity that though we have wrestled with this question of poverty a dozen times, we have not been successful in the battle. At one point in time, the government attempted to minimize the chances of school dropout in primary schools through its provision of porridge to pupils in the junior section. This attempt was in itself a good gesture but the government has failed to implement the initiative further in other schools that up to now have not benefited from the program.

It may not sound an exaggeration if we may say poverty has also forced a good number of students to give up their hopes of getting educated simply because they find it so difficult traveling to and from their respective schools. Lack of transport means, in short, has pushed them well towards the blink of despair as far as attaining formal education is concerned. This point speaks for itself how poverty can sometimes work on the education’s disadvantage.

As we go further with this discussion, we also appreciate the fact that the problem that mostly hinders a student’s success is inadequate resources that include; few teachers and learning materials. It must be highlighted that these problems are not only in developing countries but they may also find their way in reasonably developed countries like South Africa. In a developing country like Malawi, the education system encounters these problems because of the government’s failure to look into problems of infrastructure, capacity and availability of teaching and learning materials (Nkawike,2005) . The Muluzi government did a little if any; in as far as infrastructure is concerned. Lack of school blocks facilitated by a large number of pupils due to the introduction of the free primary education in 1994, forced pupils to have lessons under trees. In 2003, for example, lack of school blocks resulted in a tragedy at Nkomachi in Lilongwe when a tree fell onto an outdoor class, resulting in injury and deaths of pupils (Mvula & Chanika,2004) . This problem of learning materials continues till date, in all levels of the education system. According to Abraham (2009) , the school has always had shortage of learning blocks to an extent that the Physical Science and Biology laboratories are used as classrooms. There is also great shortage of books in all departments, and some departments like the technical department needs new equipment and current books which are very expensive. With this unfortunate situation we cannot anticipate good performance from Masongola secondary school.

In order to deal with these issues, the Muluzi government thought it wise to disregard the provision of learning materials in schools. Instead the Malawi School Certificate of Education (MSCE) pass mark was reduced to ensure the success of students in their examinations. Even the director of Basic Education, Nelson Kaperemera admitted that funds intended for learning materials were servicing the debts of government at the expense of improving quality education. Instead of reducing the pass mark, the government and other stake holders should strive to improve quality of education, improve teacher salaries, and provide adequate materials and train teachers properly (Malawi News,2006) .

In developing countries like Malawi, the schools are understaffed (teaching personnel) and they tend to be handling a large number of students for long hours. Furthermore, the teachers are subjected to meager salaries, which are even made late. The government does not seem to have the welfare of teachers at heart, for instance the education Manager for Phalombe, Enoch Ali says the district is facing a dire shortage of teachers, a situation that is contributing to low education standards. The teacher pupil ratio in Phalombe is 1: 120, whilst the recommended ratio is 1: 60 (The Nation,2006) . Due to low pay teachers resort to organizing part time classes, which demand an extra amount of money on top of the normal fees. These changes clearly affect those students who come from very poor families, as they do not receive adequate studies because of lack of money.
This does not only occur in secondary schools, but it also happens in universities. As the academic staff of the Universities go on strike because of the government’s reluctance to increase their salaries. One considers how this is supposed to retain staff in the University. As a result lecturers spend more time doing consultancies; instead of preparing lectures and doing University mandated research. If we are serious about fighting poverty, formal education is the hub of ideas to fight these problems by improving its standards (Kapasula,2008) .
Child labour is one of the major problems that contribute to school dropp out. The majority of child labour victims are children who are living in poverty. This is so because they lack basic needs, for this reason they are forced even against their will to do any kind of work in order to gain financial wealth. This, therefore, affects school attendance. Evidence of school dropp out due to child labour is found in central region where most children are being employed in estates. This region has high tobacco production. Since this crop demands a lot of work, children are at high demand because they do not claim high wages compared to adults. Research, therefore, showed that the percentage of children attending schools is lower compared to that of northern and southern region (Nyirongo,2004) . We have the case of two brothers aged between 12 and 15 who were forced to work at a tobacco farm at Mpherembe in Kasungu district, where they were receiving 150 kwacha a day due to poverty (Namangale,2005) . We can see that child labour has a great impact on education because through it, a lot of children are being deprived of their right to education as they spend most of their time working.

In addition to that, Chirwa (2003) found out that child labour is also taking place in people’s houses. In this case children are forced to dropp out of school either by parents or on their own, to work in neighbouring homes. Here one of the victims is a 12 year old girl Elizabeth Chalimba, who left school when she was in standard six to work as a nanny in order to support her siblings. Children from low income families are at risk because though school is their only hope for a better future, they dropp out because their parents are failing to provide them with basic needs. Apart from child labour, psychological problems due to poverty is also another cause of school dropp outs. Research shows that the impact of poverty is greater on children as opposed to adults. Firstly, the problem arises due to the environment in which these children are raised. These environments being impoverished, they are intellectually unstimulating, and lack of stimulation results in impaired intellectual development of a child. This in turn contributes to failure in class which can later on lead to school dropp out.

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poem by Innocent Masina Nkhonyo
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Preservation

Im preserving myself with make-up
Lookin in the mirror
Im preserving my life, I can take it
Shinin in the spotlight
Preservation, lookin in the mirror
Preservation, but they dont know that Im scrapin it all off
Every night
Im reserving my rights, reputation
Livin in a movie, its keepin me lookin right
When the secret is out to the public
Seein is believin, they still wanna be me at night
When the parts get shorter, the parties get harder
But thats alright
Preservation, lookin in the mirror
Preservation, but they dont know that Im scrapin it off
Every night
Theyre linin up to make their entrance
When the words out Im in town, theyre not nice girls
But thats alright
Theyre lookin so much better when the lights go down
But nice girls is just a frame of mind
Preservation, lookin in the mirror
Preservation, but they dont know that Im scrapin it off
Every night
(written by nazareth)
Copyright 1982 fool circle music limited
All rights reserved.
Lyrics used by permission
Reproduction prohibited

song performed by Nazareth
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Whats Mine Is Mine

Key:-
A - anita
R - ray
A: oh, oh, all right; oh, oh, allright
Oh, oh, all right; oh, oh, allright
Oh, oh, all right; oh, oh, allright
My property, my property
A: oh, oh, all right; oh, oh, allright
Oh, oh, all right; oh, oh, allright
R: whats mine is mine hold theres the line
Stop following me from the back all of the time
Theres one of me, one of a kind
Sorry Im first, excuse me do you mind
You wanna be the same and put me out of frame
I got my own style, so you must be insane
Yes theres something else you can find
So dont touch mine, whats mine is mine
A: why do you want to be like me?
Why do you want whats mine?
You know this is my property, babe, youre losing this time
You are wasting time and energy cause you just cant take whats mine
You better save your time and energy gotta get it out of your mind
Whats mine is mine!
R: step back, step back
A: whats mine is mine
Whats mine is mine
Youre wasting your time
R: step back, step back
A: whats mine is mine
Oh, oh, all right
R: dont waste your time and energy
Cause nobody in the world can be like me
Youre looking for something I already found
A smoother move, a better sound
Represent yourself as me, myself, and i
Make your own plan, come on and try!
Ideas nowadays are hard to find
But dont touch mine whats mine is mine!
A: why do you want to be like me?
Why do you want whats mine?
You know this is my property, babe, youre losing this time
You are wasting time and energy cause you just cant take whats mine
You better save your time and energy gotta get it out of your mind
Whats mine is mine!
A: oh....
R: whats mine is mine
Whats mine is mine
A: oh, oh, all right, oh, oh, all right, oh, oh, all right
My property, my property, oh, oh, all right, oh, oh, all right, oh, oh, all right
R: whats mine is mine

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song performed by 2 Unlimited
Added by Lucian Velea
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Year Of The Boomerang

Tha sistas are in so check the front line
Seems I spent the 80s in the haiti state of mind
Cast me into classes for electro shock
Straight incarcerated, the curriculums a cell block
Im swimmin in half truths and it makes me wanna spit
Instructor come separate the healthy from tha sick
Ya weigh me on a scale, smellin burnt skin
Its dark now in dachau and Im screamin from within
cause Im cell locked in tha doctrines of tha right
Enslaved by dogma, talk about my birthrights
Yet at every turn Im runnin into hells gates
So I grip tha cannon like fanon an pass tha shells to my classmates
Aw, power to tha people
cause tha bosses right ta live is mine ta die
So Im goin out heavy sorta like mount tai
Wit tha five centuries of penitentiary so let tha guilty hang
In tha year of tha boomerang
I got no property but yo Im a piece of it
So let tha guilty hang
I got no property but yo Im a piece of it
In the year of tha boomerang
I got no property but yo Im a piece of it
So let tha guilty hang
I got no property but yo Im a piece of it
In the year of tha boomerang
Yeah!
Now its upon you!
Now its upon you!
Tha sistas are in so check the front line
Seems I spent the 80s in the haiti state of mind
Cast me into classes for electro shock
Straight incarcerated, the curriculums a cell block
Swimmin in half truths and it makes me wanna spit
Instructor come separate the healthy from tha sick
Ya weigh me on a scale, Im smellin burnt skin
Its dark now in dachau and Im screamin from within
cause Im cell locked in tha doctrines of tha right
Enslaved by dogma, talk about my birthrights
Yet at every turn Im runnin into hells gates
So I grip tha cannon like fanon an pass tha shells to my classmates
Aw, power to tha people, yeah, yeah
Tha bosses right ta live is mine ta die
Im goin out heavy sorta like mount tai
Wit tha five centuries of penitentiary so let tha guilty hang
In tha year of tha boomerang
I got no property but yo Im a piece of it
So let tha guilty hang
I got no property but yo Im a piece of it
Uh! in the year of tha boomerang
I got no property but yo Im a piece of it

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song performed by Rage Against The Machine
Added by Lucian Velea
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Five ballades with a prologue

(after W.E.G. Louw)

Prologue: The child of God

From the creation,
long before the time of Plato and Aristotle
the word of God was the child’s criterion
while he ruled over everything.

When darkness rose right across the earth
others came in rebellion
wanted to show the God of creation
that they do not regard Him
and did not want to believe him

that destruction will follow upon their deeds,
that rain will fall in a terrible flood
that flooding will come as a result
from the hand of the God of the universe.

The child constructed a ship
went into its shelter with his wife,
children and animals
believing that the hand of the Almighty God
was sheltering
while the others in destruction
begged and cried for mercy.

The child walked through the palace of Pharaoh
could not convert his mother Hatshepsut
to the Almighty God,
saw whips lashing on the backs of his brothers
wanted to stop the lashing
on of one of them.

Right through the sea the child led his people
with crushing water closing on Pharaoh’s army,
right through the desert
his eyes were set on the Promised Land
while he trusted God.

When God Himself came to this earth,
taught people about love,
the child followed Him,
he baptised people and converted them

until on a Friday
on which the curtain ripped right through,
with God innocently hanging on a cross
while evil people mocked, cursed

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poem by Gert Strydom
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Absalom and Achitophel

In pious times, e'er Priest-craft did begin,
Before Polygamy was made a sin;
When man, on many, multiply'd his kind,
E'r one to one was, cursedly, confind:
When Nature prompted, and no law deny'd
Promiscuous use of Concubine and Bride;
Then, Israel's monarch, after Heaven's own heart,
His vigorous warmth did, variously, impart
To Wives and Slaves; And, wide as his Command,
Scatter'd his Maker's Image through the Land.
Michal, of Royal blood, the Crown did wear,
A Soyl ungratefull to the Tiller's care;
Not so the rest; for several Mothers bore
To Godlike David, several Sons before.
But since like slaves his bed they did ascend,
No True Succession could their seed attend.
Of all this Numerous Progeny was none
So Beautifull, so brave as Absalon:
Whether, inspir'd by some diviner Lust,
His father got him with a greater Gust;
Or that his Conscious destiny made way
By manly beauty to Imperiall sway.
Early in Foreign fields he won Renown,
With Kings and States ally'd to Israel's Crown
In Peace the thoughts of War he could remove,
And seem'd as he were only born for love.
What e'er he did was done with so much ease,
In him alone, 'twas Natural to please.
His motions all accompanied with grace;
And Paradise was open'd in his face.
With secret Joy, indulgent David view'd
His Youthfull Image in his Son renew'd:
To all his wishes Nothing he deny'd,
And made the Charming Annabel his Bride.
What faults he had (for who from faults is free?)
His Father could not, or he would not see.
Some warm excesses, which the Law forbore,
Were constru'd Youth that purg'd by boyling o'r:
And Amnon's Murther, by a specious Name,
Was call'd a Just Revenge for injur'd Fame.
Thus Prais'd, and Lov'd, the Noble Youth remain'd,
While David, undisturb'd, in Sion raign'd.
But Life can never be sincerely blest:
Heaven punishes the bad, and proves the best.
The Jews, a Headstrong, Moody, Murmuring race,
As ever try'd th' extent and stretch of grace;
God's pamper'd people whom, debauch'd with ease,
No King could govern, nor no God could please;
(Gods they had tri'd of every shape and size
That Gods-smiths could produce, or Priests devise.)

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poem by John Dryden
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Preservation

Once upon a time
In a faraway land
Lived a villain called flash
He was such a wicked man
He terrorized the people
He broke arms and crushed hands
He ruled with a fist and he purchased all the land
Then he plowed up the fields and cut down the trees
For property speculation
And he did it all for a pot of gold
And for his own preservation
The people were scared
They didnt know where to turn
They couldnt see any salvation
From the hoods and the spivs
And the crooked politicians
Who were cheating and lying to the nation
Save the fields and the trees
And give them back to the nation
Bring the government down
A new leader must be found
For the sake of preservation
He said he did it to help us all
And did it for the good of the nation
But he did it for a pot of gold
And for his own preservation
When money is evil
And power is corrupt
The devil moves in and takes over
Mr. flash broke his word
And now hes got to pay
For his crimes and his lies and his evil ways
And its gonna get rough
And its gonna get rough
Its a crime and a sin that no one can win
In a story of self preservation

song performed by Kinks
Added by Lucian Velea
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As Previously Advantaged, Now Disadvantaged

we are humbly sorry that our ancestors
sailed with ships from Europe
to discover other continents,
putting their intelligence and advanced
technology into good practice,
discovering the Cape of Good Hope
and developing this country
to the best of their ability and knowledge
while your ancestors migrated from the big lakes
in central Africa, under chief Dlamini
from eMbo killing the other local inhabitants
as far as they were going,
even wiping them out after they had settled.

We are humbly sorry that our ancestors
took you from the bush, tried to teach you
Christian values and a Christian religion,
instead of worshiping to ancestral spirits,
dead stones of which you believe the silence
have greater meaning and more depth
than any other teachings,
tried to teach you to earn a living
by planting crops, maintaining and herding cattle
instead of pillaging, robbing and killing others,
instead of trapping, killing animals,
with sticks, stones and iron spears.

We are humbly sorry that our ancestors
took the wild bush as pioneers
planned and developed
farms, towns and cities, mines, factories,
the infrastructure that are in them,
developed water resources,
electrical powering and laid railway lines,
developed the roads,
the harbors and airports that link them
to each other and the rest of the wide world,
which you now view as belonging to you,
to at your discretion take over by force
from the people to whom they did belong,
to rob, kill and pillage property
to rename airports, harbors, streets,
towns and cities at your own discretion.

We are humbly sorry that our ancestors
after fighting victoriously against yours
at Blood River and in other wars and battles
respected you as people living in this country,
did not like the Americans and Australians
go out to wipe you out of the country,

[...] Read more

poem by Gert Strydom
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Mirrors Of Our Time

THE ECONOMY is a hose.
The Government collects water from the people
and pours it into the top of the hose
and gives it back to the people.
Near the top of the hose is a hole.
A lot of the water pours out of this into a tank
marked Government which is always empty.
The rest flows down towards the people.
It passes other holes marked
Government Agencies
Government buildings
Government contingencies
Government perks
There are also holes marked
Lawyers
Accountants
Criminals.
The Government is always trying
to stop these last three holes.
Finally what is left of the water
reaches people at the end of the hose.
The people fight over it
(it is never enough) .
When they get very thirsty they start
to throw stones at the government
and threaten to sack them.
The government then reluctantly
pours more water into the top of the hose
(which they get from the people) .
Finally when the people are very thirsty indeed,
under the leadership of the
Lawyers
Accountants
and other Criminals,
they attack the tank marked Government
and break it open.
It is always empty.
Then many of the people die
(except for the Lawyers, Accountants
and other Criminals.)
The survivors go off and look for a new well,
drink as much as they can
as quickly as they can
and wait for a new Government to find them.

poem by Brian Taylor
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Government

The Government -- I heard about the Government and
I went out to find it. I said I would look closely at
it when I saw it.
Then I saw a policeman dragging a drunken man to
the callaboose. It was the Government in action.
I saw a ward alderman slip into an office one morning
and talk with a judge. Later in the day the judge
dismissed a case against a pickpocket who was a
live ward worker for the alderman. Again I saw
this was the Government, doing things.
I saw militiamen level their rifles at a crowd of
workingmen who were trying to get other workingmen
to stay away from a shop where there was a strike
on. Government in action.
Everywhere I saw that Government is a thing made of
men, that Government has blood and bones, it is
many mouths whispering into many ears, sending
telegrams, aiming rifles, writing orders, saying
"yes" and "no."
Government dies as the men who form it die and are laid
away in their graves and the new Government that
comes after is human, made of heartbeats of blood,
ambitions, lusts, and money running through it all,
money paid and money taken, and money covered
up and spoken of with hushed voices.
A Government is just as secret and mysterious and sensitive
as any human sinner carrying a load of germs,
traditions and corpuscles handed down from
fathers and mothers away back.

poem by Carl Sandburg
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Through the eyes of a Field Coronet (Epic)

Introduction

In the kaki coloured tent in Umbilo he writes
his life’s story while women, children and babies are dying,
slowly but surely are obliterated, he see how his nation is suffering
while the events are notched into his mind.

Lying even heavier on him is the treason
of some other Afrikaners who for own gain
have delivered him, to imprisonment in this place of hatred
and thoughts go through him to write a book.

Prologue

The Afrikaner nation sprouted
from Dutchmen,
who fought decades without defeat
against the super power Spain

mixed with French Huguenots
who left their homes and belongings,
with the revocation of the Edict of Nantes.
Associate this then with the fact

that these people fought formidable
for seven generations
against every onslaught that they got
from savages en wild animals

becoming marksmen, riding
and taming wild horses
with one bullet per day
to hunt a wild antelope,

who migrated right across the country
over hills in mass protest
and then you have
the most formidable adversary
and then let them fight

in a natural wilderness
where the hunter,
the sniper and horseman excels
and any enemy is at a lost.

Let them then also be patriotic
into their souls,
believe in and read
out of the word of God

[...] Read more

poem by Gert Strydom
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Ice-Cold Preservation [REVISED]

PRESERVATION

Life is a marathon, not a short sprint,
spiritualists teach cold hearts are only
frozen in this universe without room for
high ideals & unconditional love chosen
when humanity dreamed noble ideals

Ice-cold life is preservation, has frozen
resolve to stay ethically true to dreams;
almost no amount of heat can melt
feelings frosted within us when we
were small

But joy is ice-covered only, underneath
is warmth & love, we're NOT made of
stone, by retaining an icy state we can
strive to live with integrity, try to be
true to our words

Though frozen we've the best intentions
which shall be realised at a future date -
in existence of a different sphere

[ORIGINAL: ]

ICE-COLD PRESERVATION

I see life as a marathon, not a short sprint,
spirituals teach cold hearts are only frozen
in this universe without room for the high
ideals and unconditional love chosen when
humanity dreamed of noble ideals

Being ice-cold is preservation, life requires
an ice-cold resolve to remain true to ideals
and dreams; almost no amount of heat can
melt the feelings frosted within us
when we were small

But our joy is only frozen, underneath all is
warmth and love, we are NOT made of stone,
by remaining in the frozen state we can strive
to live with integrity, trying to be true
to our words

Though frozen, we have the best of intentions
which shall be realised at a future date - in
a different sphere of existence

poem by Margaret Alice Second
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Property Of Jesus

Go ahead and talk about him because he makes you doubt,
Because he has denied himself the things that you cant live without.
Laugh at him behind his back just like the others do,
Remind him of what he used to be when he comes walkin through.
Hes the property of jesus
Resent him to the bone
You got something better
Youve got a heart of stone
Stop your conversation when he passes on the street,
Hope he falls upon himself, oh, wont that be sweet
Because he cant be exploited by superstition anymore
Because he cant be bribed or bought by the things that you adore.
Hes the property of jesus
Resent him to the bone
You got something better
Youve got a heart of stone
When the whip thats keeping you in line doesnt make him jump,
Say hes hard-of-hearin, say that hes a chump.
Say hes out of step with reality as you try to test his nerve
Because he doesnt pay no tribute to the king that you serve.
Hes the property of jesus
Resent him to the bone
You got something better
Youve got a heart of stone
Say that hes a loser cause he got no common sense
Because he dont increase his worth at someone elses expense.
Because hes not afraid of trying, cause he dont look at you and smile,
cause he doesnt tell you jokes or fairy tales, say hes got no style.
Hes the property of jesus
Resent him to the bone
You got something better
Youve got a heart of stone
You can laugh at salvation, you can play olympic games,
You think that when you rest at last youll go back from where you came.
But youve picked up quite a story and youve changed since the womb.
What happened to the real you, youve been captured but by whom?
Hes the property of jesus
Resent him to the bone
You got something better
Youve got a heart of stone

song performed by Bob Dylan
Added by Lucian Velea
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Young Blood

(coverdale/marsden)
If you feel the rolling thunder
An your eyes see lightning strike,
Dont be afraid, just call on me
Ill bring you shelter from the night
When the wind is howling
Ill hold you near,
An soothe your troubled mind
With a little bit of this,
An a little bit of that
Ill make you leave all your worries behind
Dont try to hold on to what you got,
cos I got what you need
Dont try to hold on, for anyone,
Come on, give it to me
Youngblood, youre hot property, youngblood
Youngblood, youre hot property, youngblood
Youngblood...
When youre burning hot with fever
An you shake down to your bones,
Dont get yourself into a cold sweat
cos its just your bad blood throwing stones
The devil has got your number
An he wants you hanging on a line,
But, before the night is over, baby
Im gonna make you mine
Dont try to hold on to what you got,
cos I got what you need
Dont try to hold on, for anyone,
Come on, give it to me
Youngblood, youre hot property, youngblood
Youngblood, youre hot property, youngblood
Im coming to get you
Dont try to hold on to what you got,
cos I got what you need
Dont try to hold on, for anyone,
Come on, give it to me
Youngblood, youre hot property, youngblood...
Im gonna make you mine...

song performed by Whitesnake
Added by Lucian Velea
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Why Me

Why me? was the question running down my spine Why me? so i asked myself Why me? Why me? my heart was panting for an answer Why me? my brain could not find an answer at last it gave a reasonable one that made a lot of meaning I am left in a lonely world, to make me to reason that this world is not worth living Boko Haram sect became a terror Vampire they became over night sucking human blood at will killing innocent victims with out impunity The people turn to shred, through the bomb blast killing them for nothing No shelter to live for survival No food to eat for the day No water to sustain life in turbulence A country we see without a government When people are wiped out of existence, the government will rule the dust of the earth with a pity The government can only pity those that are dead and buried Their people suffer brain touch, heavy heart, crying eyes with out control They suffer without care from the government Why me? was my question do we call this a government The government that sleeps when the houses are on fire Fire the houses are burnt to black dust and crumbs as we touch it again and again Mend are threatening to carry firearms to fight the government that cannot run state affairs The government is sleeping while her house is on fire My country Nigeria is on fire, sitting on the keg of gun powder blasting in the air and we can do nothing

poem by Olayemi Ayo
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Anarchists

The leaders of this country,
Think were the ones that do wrong,
They take control of the power,
and steal this land of forgotten freedom

Its not the people afraid of the government,
Its the government afraid of the people

They call the ones dressed in black,
The evil ones but we fight back,
We've got hackers, we've got protesters,
we let no man left behind

Its not the people afraid of the government,
Its the government afraid of the people

The unions dressed in black,
With their flag raised up high,
Don't take no for an answer,
As the forces stain the streets with blood

Its not the people afraid of the government,
Its the government afraid of the people

We fight for the people,
Our obligation is good as gold,
And though we fight with arms of steel,
we don't let death go in vein

Its not the people afraid of the government,
Its the government afraid of the people

poem by Bing D'Amico
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I believe in an America with a government of men devoted solely to the public interests — men of ability and dedication, free from conflict or corruption or other commitment — a responsible government that is efficient and economical, with a balanced budget over the years of the cycle, reducing its debt in prosperous times — a government willing to entrust the people with the facts that they have — not a businessman's government, with business in the saddle … not a labor government, not a farmer's government, not a government of one section of the country or another, but a government of, for and by the people.

quote by John F. Kennedy
Added by Veronica Serbanoiu
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Prince Hohenstiel-Schwangau, Saviour of Society

Epigraph

Υδραν φονεύσας, μυρίων τ᾽ ἄλλων πόνων
διῆλθον ἀγέλας . . .
τὸ λοίσθιον δὲ τόνδ᾽ ἔτλην τάλας πόνον,
. . . δῶμα θριγκῶσαι κακοῖς.

I slew the Hydra, and from labour pass'd
To labour — tribes of labours! Till, at last,
Attempting one more labour, in a trice,
Alack, with ills I crowned the edifice.

You have seen better days, dear? So have I —
And worse too, for they brought no such bud-mouth
As yours to lisp "You wish you knew me!" Well,
Wise men, 't is said, have sometimes wished the same,
And wished and had their trouble for their pains.
Suppose my Œdipus should lurk at last
Under a pork-pie hat and crinoline,
And, latish, pounce on Sphynx in Leicester Square?
Or likelier, what if Sphynx in wise old age,
Grown sick of snapping foolish people's heads,
And jealous for her riddle's proper rede, —
Jealous that the good trick which served the turn
Have justice rendered it, nor class one day
With friend Home's stilts and tongs and medium-ware,—
What if the once redoubted Sphynx, I say,
(Because night draws on, and the sands increase,
And desert-whispers grow a prophecy)
Tell all to Corinth of her own accord.
Bright Corinth, not dull Thebes, for Lais' sake,
Who finds me hardly grey, and likes my nose,
And thinks a man of sixty at the prime?
Good! It shall be! Revealment of myself!
But listen, for we must co-operate;
I don't drink tea: permit me the cigar!
First, how to make the matter plain, of course —
What was the law by which I lived. Let 's see:
Ay, we must take one instant of my life
Spent sitting by your side in this neat room:
Watch well the way I use it, and don't laugh!
Here's paper on the table, pen and ink:
Give me the soiled bit — not the pretty rose!
See! having sat an hour, I'm rested now,
Therefore want work: and spy no better work
For eye and hand and mind that guides them both,
During this instant, than to draw my pen
From blot One — thus — up, up to blot Two — thus —
Which I at last reach, thus, and here's my line
Five inches long and tolerably straight:

[...] Read more

poem by Robert Browning (1871)
Added by Veronica Serbanoiu
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