Aggression- The Measures Taken by Erich Fried

The Measures Taken by Erich Fried

The lazy are slaughtered
the world grows industrious

The ugly are slaughtered
the world grows beautiful

The foolish are slaughtered
the world grows wise

The sick are slaughtered
the world grows healthy

The sad are slaughtered
the world grows merry

The old are slaughtered
the world grows young

The enemies are slaughtered
the world grows friendly

The wicked are slaughtered
the world grows good

The writer of this poem was an Austrian Jew who fled the country after his father's beating death by the Gestapo.  His first hand experience with brutal loss is reflected in the words of this poem.  The word slaughter represents a bloody, messy way to end the lives of those who are less desirable.  Less desirable to whom is the question I ask myself. I can identify my self in at least three of these lines as I read them today.  Maybe I could be identified in all of these lines depending the judge. And isn't that what is being said in this poem?  When I think about the destruction of people and the reasons given, so simple in the mind of the destroyer.  Fried uses only eight examples yet it is unlikely that any readers can not get through this poem without seeing themselves in one of them. Lazy and foolish are the only two words he uses that are possibilities for change. Destroying lives based on sadness during wartime would cause endless destruction. Ugly, sick, sad, wicked and enemies are all descriptions of war, are all created by war.  In the end the fighting and choices made only produce what the aggressors in war-time seek to destroy.