Ginsberg's poem is obviously sarcastic in tone, shown in the lines "That no good. Ugh. Him make indians read/ Him need big black niggers. Hah. Her make us/ all work sixteen hours a day. Help." His use of this primitive voice is a mockery that presents America as ignorant and brainwashed from modern societal capitalism. The brainwashing is also prevalent in the repetition of "them Russians" and the obsession with communism during the Cold War era. Ginsberg's poem is very personal and uses "I" throughout because he does not want to be included in the masses of capitalism and seeks to maintain his individuality.
Di Prima presents America as an image having diverted from a more primitive state and being more closely associated with nature. She states that the overflow of consumerism has damaged the integrity of our relationship with nature by saying "every large factory is an infringement/ of our god-given right to light and air/ to clean and flowing rivers stocked with fish." Di Prima, in contrast to Ginsberg, speaks with a collective voice by using "we" throughout her poem. By including everyone in her statements, she is making a sort of call-to-arms motion that beckons people to make a change in their actions.
--John Prichard
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