Homo Obamicus

The Unknown Citizen

To Social Security Account Number 067-01-9818 This Marble Monument Is Erected By The State

He was found by the Bureau of Statistics to be
One against whom there was no official complaint,
And all of the reports on his conduct agree
That, in the modern sense of an old-fashioned word, he was a saint,
For in everything he did he served the Greater Community.
Except for the war, till the day he retired
He worked in one factory and never got fired,
But satisfied his employers, Fudge Motors, Inc.,
Yet was neither a scab nor odd in his views,
For his Union reports that he paid his dues
(Our report of his Union says it was sound).

And our Social Psychology workers found
He was popular with his mates and liked a drink.
The Press are convinced that he bought a paper every day,
And that his reactions to advertisements were normal in every way,
Policies taken out in his name prove that he was fully insured,
And a certificate shows that he was once in hospital but left it cured.
Both Producers Research and High Grade Living declare
He was fully sensible to the advantages of the Installment Plan,
And had everything necessary to The Modern Man -
A Victrola, a radio, a car and a frigidaire.

Our investigators into Public Opinion are content
That he held the proper opinions for the time of year;
When there was peace, he was for peace; when there was war, he went.
He was married and added five children to the population,
Which our eugenist says, was the right number for a parent of his generation,
And our teachers report that he never interfered in their education.
Was he free? Was he happy? The question is absurd;
Had anything been wrong, we should certainly have heard.

W.H. Auden (1940)