Another way of looking at things

We heard a song at the John McCutcheon concert that I'd heard before. It isn't a classic, but it does point out how inconsistent we are, and that it is important to keep our focus on the right things. The words are below. If you would like to hear the song, you can download an mp3 of it free here.

Puppies
Words & music by John McCutcheon
(September 2007, White Sulpher Springs, WV)

Leona Helmsley had a puppy
Trouble is its name
She left her pup 12 million bucks
Leona was insane
Trouble will be buried
When she barks her final time
In a mausoleum
Bigger than your house or mine.

At the other end of puppy love
We have Michael Vick
His treatment of his puppies
Proves that Mike is just plain sick
He trained his puppies from the start
To kill or to be killed
You gotta stop and wonder
Where such thinking was instilled

We have puppies everywhere
In our cars and laps
If you ever hurt a puppy
We’re gonna give you crap

I have a dog, I love my dog
More than I can tell
But still I wished we treated humans
Nearly half as well

When humans beings fight other humans
We gather, cheer and bet
When we cage our fellow humans
Everyone forgets
We read of murder and starvation
And simply turn the page
But if a single puppy's harmed
Everyone's outraged

So we need puppies in Guantanamo
Puppies in Darfur
So we can get upset enough
To care to find a cure
Puppies need a living wage
Puppies need health care
Puppies need a helping hand
From humans everywhere

Illegal alien puppies
Puppies lost or lame
We rush right in to rescue them
Make sure they each have names
If we treated folks in need
That well both near and far
We might become the persons
That our puppies think we are