The news cycle moves to fast for me these days. But, I can’t let this one go: Brooke Rollins, Secretary of Agriculture, announced last week that after thousands of simulations, the government determined that Americans could eat a piece of chicken, a piece of broccoli, a corn tortilla and one other thing as a meal that is inexpensive ($3) and meets the new food pyramid guidelines that were recently released.

I will leave it to others to critique this suggested “meal.” All I could think about is a song from the progressive rock band Genesis that seemed dystopian when it came out in 1972. “Get ‘Em Out By Friday” tells the story of corporate greed and government corruption working against human beings in tragic and drastic ways with greedy landlords leading the way. Set in the present, it ends in 2012 with this vision:

This is an announcement from Genetic Control
It is my sad duty to inform you of a four foot restriction on
Humanoid height

I hear the directors of Genetic Control have been buying all the Properties that have recently been sold, taking risks oh so bold
It’s said now that people will be shorter in height
They can fit twice as many in the same building site
They say it’s alright.

The song features multiple voices as part of the story. Since everyone is quoting George Orwell these days, I thought I would add Genesis to the mix. Dystopian vision or potential reality?