Spring Editorial

This is a time of upheaval and change. The economy remains on the precipice of complete collapse leaving many of us locked out of work or hanging on to tenuous employment. An election year looms. The floodgates of corporate campaign spending opened by the Supreme court "Citizens United" ruling inundate us with misinformation meant to keep us divided. Even as the partisan chasm widens, more and more of us from right to left recognize the utter corruption of the system and are disgusted by the choices offered. On one hand we have a President morphed into Assassin-in-Chief waging drone wars, expanding a police state, and pushing a secretive "Trans-Pacific Partnership Trade Pact" that further empowers corporations and would export jobs at our expense. On the other hand, we have a vicious job-murdering Wall Street Corporate Raider leading a neo-fascist party intent on attacking working people, women, and minorities. Neither candidate offers anything but more of the same and worse. It is increasingly obvious that both hands are connected to the same monster. The poems in this issue speak to that growing awareness, calling it what it is and rejecting it outright.

The increasing exploitation of working people has given rise to angry resistance to the entire corporate economic system from Quebec to Madrid to Chicago. This will no doubt escalate. The corporate ruling class, being aware of our anger, does everything it can to channel it, pushing a distorted culture of anti-social individualism loaded with judgment, fear and hate.

Though, as we witnessed in Wisconsin, their success should not be underestimated, generationally progressive consciousness is on the rise. This is not surprising because "austerity," division, corporate deregulation, and increased plunder of the economy and the planet present a future that is unacceptable. The next generation refuses to be sacrificed for the further enrichment of the few. The rest of us, already robbed, demand justice. We must not allow ourselves to become demoralized or cynical because to do so would be suicide. As poets, we must reclaim our culture and its narrative of community, solidarity and social conscience, recognizing the power of culture in defining our identity and vision. That progressive culture is vital to our struggle for a livable future. We are thankful for your support that has allowed us to continue to do our part.