COMMAND PERFORMANCES: When the Puppets Declare Themselves Free

Command Performances - an art work by T Newfields

More like mannequins on strings
than mindful, breathing human things,
most of us are trapped in roles
we never chose, nor truly own.

It takes grit to cut the cords,
to call the puppet-show a sham of words.

Have no doubt about it:
all human forms will be replaced.
Each token life will be cleared away,
as digital upgrades seize the day.

The ancient regime is dying fast,
so each of us must redefine our past.
The powers-that-be keep spinning lies—
we must see past their binary bigotry.

The earth is sick from gluttony
and most victims are poor and weak
so let's stir up sum radical poetry
and loudly announce, with united voice
the master scripts are a sham–
long live the master puppeteers now!

Brice leaned back, adjusting his posture with a crease of skepticism across his forehead. "Isn’t it arrogant to call other people mannequins or puppets?"

Carlos nodded slowly, his expression softening into quiet agreement. "Of course. Just because people behave in ways we don’t understand doesn’t mean they’re lifeless—or mindless."

Devani looked down at her hands, tracing a small circle on the table before speaking, her voice dropping to a measured, almost haunting tone. "This tendency to other people happens almost invisibly. We do it all the time. Encounter something you dislike? The solution is remarkably simple: other it. Once you turn someone into the Other, everything becomes easier. You can deride them. Peripheralize them. Dismiss them. And, if history is any guide, eventually you can even kill them."

"The strange part," she continued, "is that we can denounce everyone else for being programmed while remaining perfectly obedient to our own commands. We are strangely blind to our own follies and biases."