View From the UK

by John Langley
by John Langley

Enjoying a friendly debate the other day, I paused for a moment to pick my opponent up from the floor. I was stirred, he was shaken, but our bonds of comradeship were unbroken. After all, blood is thicker than water.

Around here, ideas are taken very seriously indeed, with the inevitable clash of sensitive personalities. Yet our little hill community of anarchists, minarchists, layabouts and warm-hearted libertarians holds together rather well. How do we do it?

Well, when eyes flash and fists are raised, the next thing you know we’re all linking arms and singing our favourite song. No matter how we disagree on points of political detail, this ‘anthem’ reminds us of our essential unity in the face of the monolithic state.

Here are the words (tune available on request):

An Enemy of the State

You can call me what you care to,
You can lend me love or hate,
But here’s my self-assessment:
‘An enemy of the state’.

I know no prouder title,
No epitaph so great.
Please carve upon my tombstone:
‘An enemy of the state’.

While sheep are shyly grazing,
The farmer knows their fate.
No flock, no hedge may hold me,
An enemy of the state.

We’re one, and none may crush us.
That’s true beyond debate.
This golden rule suffices
An enemy of the state.

Proud princes and their prisons,
Oppression’s weary weight,
Dissolve as dawn enlightens
An enemy of the state.

It’s social self-perception
That sets the starting date
To end our ancient anguish as
An enemy of the state.

With tax and regulation,
Vile tyrants inundate;
Yet freedom’s flame burns brightly for
An enemy of the state.

Democracy’s dire fraudsters
No longer may dictate
With servile ballots binding
An enemy of the state.

Ten thousand years of yearning,
Of groaning at the gate …
I stand my ground, astounded,
An enemy of the state.

To break the chains of ages:
The moment’s here. Why wait?
With open heart I play my part,
An enemy of the state!

March 30, 2006

John Langley [send him mail], father of eight little libertarians, lives in England's beautiful Peak District, where he writes poetry and makes pottery ocarinas.

Copyright © 2006 LewRockwell.com