CommentsGUEST COMMENTARY - Wanting to express my inability to do anything about man’s self-destructive inclinations manifested in the drum-beating leading up to Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, and the subsequent suffering of its people, I cast around for great anti-war imagery.
Ironically, the initial lyrics of Pete Seeger’s “Where Have All the Flowers Gone” were drawn from a traditional Cossack folksong. Written in 1955 to convey Seeger’s frustration about his blacklisting during the McCarthy era, it subsequently became one of the anthems of Vietnam War protesters.
So I had no qualms about adding in many of the other wrongs in today’s world that we need to rise up and fix, or face the consequences. Feel free to add your own verses.
Where have frightened Ukrainians gone?
Fled their country, too many of them
Of what do many Ukrainians dream?
They dream of flowers in the sun
Where have all the sunflowers gone?
Gone to Russian soldiers, every one
Where have too many Russians gone?
Duped by Putin, every one
When will they ever learn?
What have Russia’s newsmen done?
Muzzled by Putin, every one
Where have Moscow’ stock values gone?
Down the toilet, one by one
Where have all the rubles gone?
Stuck in Swiss banks, every one
Where have all of Russia’s nukes gone?
Lined up in Belarus, too many of them
Who calls the shots in Belarus?
Lukashenko, every one
What has Lukashenko done?
Sucked up to Putin like America’s Ex-One
Where has America’s Ex-One gone?
Flushed out of office and Twitterdom
Another criminal on the run
When will he ever learn?
What has Vladimir Putin done?
Sold out to the oligarchs, every one
Russians should send him on the run
Straight to his dacha without his gun
But will he ever learn?
What have fossil fuel companies done?
Drove the conflict escalation, every one
What do oil and gas barons want?
Reduced regulations and more income
When will they ever learn?
What should Biden say to them?
Unless it’s green, your day is done
For Earth to survive, carbon stays in the ground
Only clean energy is now welcome
Rise up Russians, Americans, too
Show the world what people have to do
Take back your countries, it’s up to you
When will you ever learn?
What do all the people want?
Economic justice and no more guns
An end to excess by the wealthy ones
Fair play and civil liberties
Freedom for women and minorities
Health and education, made priorities
No more profiteer exploitation
Curtailing the lives of the next generation
Help for all who live in need
Saving the planet from corporate greed
Total truth and accountability
Calling out irrationality
Removing forever deleterious defects
Of the American military-industrial complex
Defund those wars, the lies and hate
Crafting love and peace just can’t wait
Entrenching human rights and public trust
If our leaders won’t do it, then the rest of us must
When will we ever learn?
When will we ever learn?
(Liz Amsden is an activist from Northeast Los Angeles with opinions on much of what goes on in our lives. She has written extensively on the City's budget and services as well as her many other interests and passions. In her real life she works on budgets for film and television where fiction can rarely be as strange as the truth of living in today's world.)