Dan Kant's "The American Commandment" Speech

The first book I ever wrote was in 2006. I wrote it on the job, by hand, in my spare time. It will never be released because its by first actual book and ain’t all that.  But, there was a part in it that I always loved and since I’m scrounging for things to do, I’m putting it up.

Daniel Kant was a modern-day speechmaker, like the ones that existed back in the nineteenth century.  They were spoken-word performances, but charged, political, and people loved it.  There was a lot of other shit going on, but the book led up to the last speech he ever wanted to give, and it was about the balance between the rich and the poor in America.  I reread it and I still liked it.  It fit the insane tone of the book.  You would not be surprised there a lot of details that remain oddly relevant in 2020.

(Update: I had completely forgotten that this was the third book I'd written. There's two previous completed projects in my file that I blanked on.  Oops.)

I fixed a couple typos, but here it is:

             “Good evening!”

             Applause.  Woo’s.

             “I was called a liberal twenty times in the last week.  Everyone used it as an insult and I thought that was funny. Liberals used to be rough types.  Hard-edged, fringe rogues with ideas that scared the crap out of banks, churches and governments alike.  But a tiny era from 1967 or so to 1970 or so changed that perception.  The image of the sly revolutionary was replaced by flowers and pot and peace signs and tie-dye and whining.  Liberals are now synonymous with hippies.  The right regards their cultural opposites as worthless, gutless and irrelevant.”

             “Maybe hippies are.  But liberals aren’t.”

             “The liberals of today are all over as they’ve always been, and I suspect the twenty-first century culture of sex, violence and materialism have made their mark.  Like the devout leftists before them, they ate and drank at the table for a while until something made them sick.  They might not bemoan big business, they may even want in on the action.  These are the types that perish for what they love, they burn for their beliefs.  They place forks in the road of human progress.”

             “Political debate doesn’t get in the way.”

             “If the conservatives left well enough alone, their opponents on the public stage might actually be hippie types.  But they ridiculed and giggled at the concepts of peace, love and understanding.  Now, I think liberals have to avoid the soft approach.  They are backed into a corner.  Creating segregated groups of people in a single society is never a good idea.  Liberals are divided from the right and they are distanced in the public eye.  This time around, the left side wants to be heard and preach the traditional morals of peace, responsibility and liberty and the right side wants them to shut the fuck up.”

             “So, what now?  Liberals in different times are known as revolutionaries.  The left creates change, it is in their blood.  Because of this, I am frightened.  As long as there is a place at the table where conservatives and liberals, rich and poor, the powerful and the powerless can speak to one another we always have hope.  That’s why America’s system is shaped this way!  Opinions should be heard and discussed and dissected.  The doors should never be shut. There are a few victories, but the conversation always goes on.”

             “This is much better than the alternative.”

             “What is the alternative?  Well I’m just an annoying citizen, one who was, until very recently, poor. I have a confused and socially virginal mind.  I have a theory and I base it on something that I hesitantly call “The American Commandment”.  It is a single line etched in the minds of each American who was ever born, and it is essential for the balance of any capitalist society.

“I’m sure all of you heard the real version of The Little Red Riding Hood.  The wolf eats Red and her Grandma and a huntsman saves the day by cutting open the stomach, then they eat the wolf, Red marries the hunter and she’s fitted with a wolfskin wedding veil?  Kay, I added some of that…”

“The point is that there are sometimes pieces of stories and sayings and morals that are left behind by history for one reason or another.  There’s only one I’m going to talk about and it’s the last thing I’ll ever talk about out loud.”

“The arguments we have all boil down the same thing.  I’ve heard advocates for peace, racial equality, sexual equality, kid’s rights, gay rights, more guns, less guns, anti-death penalty, pro-abortion, feed the hungry, get the government out of my face, help us be strong united county again.  One million causes.  Because we are a capitalist society, everyone knows what the root of the solution is.  I guess addressing it is considered a crime in some places, and debating it is rude.  Just like sex is a taboo subject in many circles, the topic is still very real and an important part of human life, let alone American life.”

“I speak of money.  This is a matter of dollars and wealth.  We value money above all things. Look around and be honest.  Our lives are about who has money, who needs it, who thinks they can get it and who wants to keep what they have. Any problem I mentioned can be solved with more money, one way or another.  I’ve heard people say certain things can’t be solved with money.  Don’t believe that.  All that means is you won’t find anyone willing to pay for it. The poor need money for basic necessities and the rich believe they should keep what they earn, inherit, or make off of interest of what they earn or inherit. I hear both sides and they make damn convincing arguments.  The only sticky wicket, the only monkey wrench, is the numbers themselves.  There are 330 million people in this country and less and one percent of a percent have half the wealth.  That is an issue.”

“So if we are honest and we admit money is number one; outshining love, kindness, tolerance, children, respect, the golden rule, family decency and happiness (all of which are free) then the poor must know their place in this value system.  They believe they know their place.  They are controlled and limited.”

“But here’s what everyone has forgotten.  The Commandment.”

“Back to my analogy.  I apologize because metaphors have never been easy for me.  The wealthy have half of the commandment spinning in their heads.  The commandment is a statement made by the people of a nation.  The middle class, the poor, the powerless. The powerful know the first four words of the commandment and use it as a legitimate reason to ignore, and even hate the poor. It’s short, but it is what they truly think of when they see Democrats and social programs and intellectuals who want to change things and scholarships and free lunch and free healthcare plans and public school.  They look at the poor with all its sincerity and genuine need, their fellow man, and all they can hear is:”

“Give me your money.”

“These are the first four words of the commandment.”

“The poor ask for equal playing fields.  They ask for dignity and help.  They ask for the smarter, the luckier and the happier to be treated like equals. The wealthy can’t stand the fact they are expected to pay for any of that.  All the Have’s hear is:”

“Gimme your money.”

“That is why there is suffering.  That is why the system breaks down.  That is why things don’t work around here.  It’s that thought and that belief.  It is a half-truth, a half- belief.  The poor have failed to remind them of the rest of it!  It is the Poor’s fault everyone!  The rich only hear what they want to hear anyway, so it is the duty of the poor to remind the rich why on God’s green earth they should pay taxes and support those less fortunate!”

“Taxes exist to fund the government. Wealthy people know that.  Not just the DC guys pissing money away on missiles that never go anywhere, but billions of other dollars in tax money go to all the stuff we need.  Power, police, phone, fire fighters, emergency techs, teachers, sewer guys, sanitation, lunch ladies, day care, elderly care, medicine and a shitload others.  Lemme hear it if you are one of these people!!!”

Enormous applause.  They shook the stage.  My heart was a hummingbird eager to break through my chest.

“But those in power hear only: Gimme your money. Give me your money.  Like poor people are children asking for a cookie after school.”

“As for the wealthy, I’m sure when they go to church, if they go, there is a sermon or two about charity and loving thy neighbor and being Christlike or obeying the book or some shit.  If Christians were Christlike there would be no poor or war.  But I don’t know if the poor are waiting for that ship to sail in anymore.  I have a feeling less and less people are buying that old time medicine.”

“Remember, this is Poor’s fault.  I mentioned numbers.  They have numbers.  So do we.  Lots of them.”

“I want everyone to hear my final point.  I want all those smart phones and the MP3’s and the soundboard recording and that camera for the internet link and all you nice people to hear this.”

“This first part of the Commandment is indeed: “Gimme your money.” The last six words that have fallen from memory in our fat and bloated society are much more dramatic.”

“The second part is:”

A pause.

“OR WE WILL FUCKING TAKE IT!”

An eruption.

“I’m serious as a goddamned triple bypass.  You want to say that I don’t live in the real world?  Look around.  Look in the faces of the bored and confused and depressed. We’re in America!  It’s not supposed to be better than this and here we are!  Scared and tired and sad all the time.  If what I speak of is insanity, then that is where we live every day.  A state of insanity.”

“Think ! Think! Think!   Why would people with money ever give their money away?  For what reason other than the government initially set up laws to take it from them.  Why take the money at all?  To placate the poor!  The budgets for Social Security and education alone are staggering.  If we only care about money, you know this is not done out of the kindness of their hearts.  It’s done to keep the peace.  It is to keep you and me punching the clock and making them money. It is a carrot or a stick.  Money is the brass ring or whatever bullshit analogy we’ve adopted to silence ourselves when we realize our lives are meaningless.”

“What power do they have that we don’t give to them?  Tell them their money is worthless or take it all, it doesn’t matter. What is to keep us from taking whatever we want when we want it?  The laws, the rules? What are you afraid of?   Cops, security, the army?  All those folks will be right next to you.  If they don’t abandon their posts it will only take a few minutes.  Once they see they are equally as screwed over and desperate and they’ve swallowed even bigger lies they’ll stand shoulder to shoulder with family and neighbors.”

“What about the law, Dan? As far as the law, what is the goddamn point of the law if you are hungry, sad, fearful, and pissed off all the time?  It’s just paper!  It can be changed!  Do you think it is money or law that keeps the peace anyway?”

“As far as the daily feelings of the rich, you can’t base an entire socioeconomic system to keep a tiny segment of the population from feeling bad they have money.  Too bad, poor you.  You’re wealthy.  If you want to stay that way, you pay taxes.”

“Your possessions are only illusions.  They are only yours because the rest of us have agreed not to take it from you.  That is a contract.  That’s how it will always be.  It is the price of a civilization. You don’t like it; we’re coming for your stuff. Now get out.”

“Is this a threat?  You’re goddamned right it is!”

“The threat is not new, it’s always been there.  We’ve just been rocked to sleep with shiny objects and pretty pictures and fluff to forget about it for a while. Television, cheap gadgets, cars, dumb movies, caffeine, beer and sugar serve as distractions.  We all know this or have a vague idea of our addictions.  But the cards seem so stacked against us and the allure of mediocre aimless Americana is so strong.  It still does not change a thing.  It is a tradition to fleece the poor.  What I speak of is equally traditional. The threat is very real.”

“Sooner or later, it will happen.  You have to see it coming.  Those who have the means to feed, clothe and help those who don’t have the means will have to make a decision. How much are you willing to pay for stability? Our society is a concept.  An idea.  An idea can be accepted or rejected. Humans must have a reason m a vested interest to accept the concept.  These laws that keep the fabric together will be respected if they work.  If they don’t, the concept is useless.”

“The alternative is something entirely more horrifying, but still real.  It has happened many times in human history, and it’s sure to happen again. Prevention is possible, but like a life- threatening virus, terrorism or natural disasters, it has to be faced. It must not be ignored.”

I took a sip of water.  I received applause just for that.

“I’ll only be another couple minutes.”

“I’m talking revolution.  Not the John Lennon kind or the Black Panther kind.  I’m not talking about rock and roll here.  I’m talking France, 1789.  I’m talking millions of pissed off people storming affluent neighborhoods because they are ill and all the medicine is being held ransom. Houses and cars aflame because they are starving or unemployed.  Do you understand how these things begin?  By those who feel useless and have nothing to do!  Are we that far? Are we getting close?”

“One crisis is all it takes.  One financial disaster and those without ample resources will be in the streets. Maybe it won’t even come to that.  Maybe it will be one man; one father. He watches someone he loves, someone he is responsible for, so sick and dying needlessly because he lacks the correct insurance coverage, or he was laid off, or injured, or unlucky. The medicine is right over there, in that building, just waiting for a high bidder.  Maybe he can’t handle it any more, maybe he himself is sick or desperate or hungry or even worse, bored to death?”

“People are poor because they are poor!  Why does it matter!?” I screamed.

More applause.  I wanted to bail right there.  I felt the crowd rumbling and they approved.  I sucked the marrow out the last bone of anger I had and all was left was the little blonde girl in the Pacific Northwest.  If nothing I said ever mattered again I didn’t care.  I wanted to collapse.

“Maybe this father hops a fence.  That’s it.  Right into a warehouse or a store or an estate.  He figures he has no other options so he grabs what he needs, maybe someone gets in his way.  But his baby is starving and dying, and the owner is trying to protect his property.  What would you do with someone who got between you and your starving child?”

“YOU’D FUCKING KILL HIM! THAT’S WHAT YOU’D DO AND YOU KNOW IT!!!”

“And who of you would convict him?  This is where the line is drawn for all of us.  This is where civilization stops cold and nature looms it ever- present shadow.”

“Then more and more people would get the same idea as the father and it would be bedlam before you know.  First the police would do their duty but eventually they’d figure out they are just arresting their own kind, the underpaid and the mistreated and the incredibly bored to death.  Maybe a change, even a violent one, is better than wasting away at the TV, growing fatter and sicker and dumber and wishing that something would happen. People would stop caring about burning the flag, gay marriages or welfare cheats in a second.  Maybe it wouldn’t be America anymore.”

“If the rich stand in the way of your baby dying, your loved one starving or they refused to grant you a bit of dignity, all your notions of a work ethic and the nuclear family dissipate like firecracker smoke. ‘Society’ and ‘country’ and ‘America’ and ‘laws’ become just words. You’d do whatever you’d have to do, and those with money need to know that.  They need to remember it.”

 “The people.  Us.  Everyone you see.  We aren’t in charge. We aren’t in charge, but we are the keepers of the kingdom.  This is our country.  We let them have it.  But it is an old agreement.  An ancient deal.  They must live up to it.  Every so often we have to rattle the cage .”

“To those who are frightened or find me hilarious I can only say this is a natural as the tides rolling in.  Snowfall.  Birth and death.  The few must protect the needs of the many, and now you remember why.”

“I’m getting tired.”

“To those who have things, just be fair. Give in.  Give up some of your money.  Yes, that’s how it works. Not all. Some. It’s not rude to ask someone to do something with their money.  Don’t want to help?  Then don’t call when there’s a fire or you need a doctor or a teacher or a cop or someone to fix the plumbing. Don’t expect protection from our enemies. You don’t need anyone’s help, apparently.  You have money and that’s the American way. What’s yours is yours.”

“I hope your right, because in the other scenario, your goddamned head is on a pike.”

“Give up the money!!!!”