Questionnaire

Version 2026

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Today’s post is a reinterpretation of Wendell Berry’s brilliant “Questionnaire” from his 2011 book of poems, Leavings.

I consider the questionnaire above to be an addition to Berry’s, not a replacement. Unfortunately, we are still answering his questions too.

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QUESTIONNAIRE
by Wendell Berry

1. How much poison are you willing
   to eat for the success of the free
   market and global trade? Please
   name your preferred poisons.

2. For the sake of goodness, how much
   evil are you willing to do?
   Fill in the following blanks
   with the names of your favorite
   evils and acts of hatred.

3. What sacrifices are you prepared
   to make for culture and civilization?
   Please list the monuments, shrines,
   and works of art you would
   most willingly destroy.

4. In the name of patriotism and
   the flag, how much of our beloved
   land are you willing to desecrate?
   List in the following spaces
   the mountains, rivers, towns, farms
   you could most readily do without.

5. State briefly the ideas, ideals, or hopes,
   the energy sources, the kinds of security,
   for which you would kill a child.
   Name, please, the children whom
   you would be willing to kill.

"Questionnaire" by Wendell Berry from Leavings. ©2011, Counterpoint Press

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SOURCES

Reader advisory: some distressing content and difficult topics below

1. “AI-Powered Surveillance Is Turning the United States into a Digital Police State. Now is the Time to Stop It.” https://www.aclum.org/publications/ai-powered-surveillance-is-turning-the-united-states-into-a-digital-police-state-now-is-the-time-to-stop-it/

2. “AI systems are enabling mass surveillance in the US, and there is no national law that ‘meaningfully limits’ the use of this data” https://www.livescience.com/technology/artificial-intelligence/cameras-have-quietly-appeared-in-thousands-of-us-cities-now-their-integration-with-ai-is-sounding-alarms-opinion

3. “How AI can enable public surveillance” https://www.brookings.edu/articles/how-ai-can-enable-public-surveillance/

4. “US government ramps up mass surveillance with help of AI tech, data brokers – and your apps and devices” https://theconversation.com/us-government-ramps-up-mass-surveillance-with-help-of-ai-tech-data-brokers-and-your-apps-and-devices-277440

5. “The phenomenon of deep nudes—a new threat to children and adults” https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00146-025-02425-4

6. “Researchers warn of rise in AI-created non-consensual explicit images” https://news.ufl.edu/2025/05/non-consensual-fake-imagery/

7. AI-powered online abuse: How AI is amplifying violence against women and what can stop it” https://www.unwomen.org/en/articles/faqs/ai-powered-online-abuse-how-ai-is-amplifying-violence-against-women-and-what-can-stop-it

8. “The Impact of Artificial Intelligence on Violence Against Women and Girls” https://www.stimson.org/2026/the-impact-of-artificial-intelligence-on-violence-against-women-and-girls/

9. “Using AI for Just 10 Minutes Might Make You Lazy and Dumb, Study Shows” https://www.wired.com/story/using-ai-negative-impact-thinking-problem-solving-study/

10. “Are these AI prompts damaging your thinking skills” https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cd6xz12j6pzo

11. “Is AI Dulling Our Minds?” https://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2025/11/is-ai-dulling-our-minds/

12. “Is Generative AI Rewiring Our Brains? Here’s How It Happens” https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/the-art-of-critical-thinking/202512/is-generative-ai-rewiring-our-brains-heres-how-it-happens

13. “Scientists have found an alarming environmental impact of vast data centers” https://www.cnn.com/2026/03/30/climate/data-centers-are-having-an-underrported

14. “The Health Divide: The AI data center boom will harm the health of communities that can least afford it” https://centerforhealthjournalism.org/our-work/insights/health-divide-ai-data-center-boom-will-harm-health-communities-can-least-afford

15. “Data Centers, Pollution, and the Communities Left Behind” https://sustainabilitydialogue.uchicago.edu/news/data-centers-pollution-and-the-communities-left-behind/

16. “Construction and Consequences: The Human Impacts of Artificial Intelligence Data Centers” https://sites.uab.edu/humanrights/2025/10/02/construction-and-consequences-the-human-impacts-of-artificial-intelligence-data-centers/

17. “An AI chatbot pushed a teen to kill himself, a lawsuit against its creator alleges” https://apnews.com/article/chatbot-ai-lawsuit-suicide-teen-artificial-intelligence-9d48adc572100822fdbc3c90d1456bd0

18. “Colorado family sues AI chatbot company after daughter’s suicide: ‘My child should be here’” https://www.cbsnews.com/colorado/news/lawsuit-characterai-chatbot-colorado-suicide/

19. “Parents Allege ChatGPT Is Responsible for Their Teenage Son’s Death by Suicide” https://time.com/7312484/chatgpt-openai-suicide-lawsuit/

20. “AI Chatbots Are Telling Children to Commit Suicide” https://thenewamerican.com/us/tech/ai-chatbots-are-telling-children-to-commit-suicide

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*Sunday Sparklies has always been and will always be 100% free of A.I.

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