Cartesian Shopping Poem by David Keig

When all of our home spun philosophies
Focus on shopping and spending and such
Then its time to redress priorities
For those things don't mean very much.

It's hard to imagine Pythagoras
Out shopping with Plato and Kant
Debating the appeal of the packaging
Of something they really don't want.

Now I know we all shop 'cos we have to eat
And we're keen on good prices it seems
But all of these retailing strategies
Seem to be trying too hard for our dreams.

So I turned to another philosopher
To understand what is going on
His words have a truth that now resonates
Like 'I shop and therefore I am'.

Well that's not precisely the words he said
He was a Frenchman and had to obscure
The truth that we now have to contemplate
When Wal Mart we have to endure.

Ah, Rene Descartes was a genius
He had matters under his thumb
When asked to go shopping he'd decline
Just saying 'cogito ergo sum'.