"The Survey Says:"

A week ago I posed this question in the form of a survey:

Is it naive to believe that poetry can be a social conscience and a force for change?

A lack of response prompted me to send out this E-mail:

~

I posted a new survey on the new blog a couple of days ago:

Is it naive to believe that poetry can be a social conscience and a force for change?

Votes so far: 0
Days left to vote: 4

So far Apathy Wins!

~

Barb Vink responded:

"Not apathy. No time, no time, no time. I have not even prepared for my Sunday guest shot yet. But I will answer this one. Succinctly."

Larry Rapant responded:

"Some questions, if not most, just can't be answered yes or no, and that question is definitely one of them. I'm glad Walt Whitman wrote his Song of Myself, or else I would have been hopelessly lonely and desperate as a teen.

So my life has been positively affected by a poet. As far as the social change is concerned, that is a much bigger issue that depends entirely on the degree to which one thinks that an individual's life actually affects the world at large. That's a much more dubious question, especially when one reflects on how little people like Jesus, Gandhi, etc. have managed to change basic human nature, i.e., how little we have changed as a species over the generations."

Cathy Anderson responded to the E-mail this way:

" I think apathy won a long time ago when all the evils in the world were blamed on homosexuals and abortion-rights groups. The religious fundamentalists were pleased as punch to point fingers and the sheep all went along in the name of God. Can poetry have an influence for good to flourish? I don't think so because too few people read poetry. So I vote "no.""

Cathy Anderson Also said:

I do think it is naive to think poetry can bring about social change. In a few instances, kids lucky enough to have a great teacher will benefit but I don't think poetry reaches the kinds of people who need it.

~

O.K., so I admit (and I said so to Alan today at Smitties) It was a "Trick question." meant to see if everyone was actually reading what I was saying. To vote in favor you had to vote "No." to vote against you had to vote "Yes."

I suppose you could say this negates the survey and its results. However, if you will notice the survey closed in a tie. The E-mails don't add up to the results, the debate continues, the question unanswered.

I learned something.

obeedúid~