The Wish Made Fiat
The enormous self-righteousness and pose
Of the lawgivers whose proposition
Would distribute among all the people
Equally the weight of reality,
Seeing it as a burden to be shared;
Domesticate the individual.
Say need is right. Make a luxury
Of pity, a virtue so commonplace
Its alchemy will seem an absolute.
Faith in the collective wish made fiat
Might alter even all causality.
This article originally appeared in print under the headline "The Wish Made Fiat."
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