Entrenched legacy of abuse,
Dereliction of decency.
Competitive advantage
Extracted through
Ruthless exploitation of
Human beings.
Contemptible mindset,
Profit at any cost—
By any means.
An entire culture
Established to use people,
Proudly extolled,
Fiercely defended
Misconduct.
The executives shake their heads
In disbelief, puzzling over
Why their profits aren’t
Higher, after all, they
Just raised prices in order
To dispatch more money
To the exalted shareholders who,
No matter how much they make,
Constantly bellyache
About short-term drops
In profits while slyly
Cajoling the stock to go up
So they can cash out before
It plummets disgracefully.
On the way home from work,
At the drive-through window,
A father of three receives
Less food for his family.
I’m so tired of
Sanctimonious phonies
Telling me how I should behave,
Or what is acceptable to think,
Impaired creatures
Injecting their disease
Into every crevice.
They don’t fool me
Like they do their minions,
Critical thinking swiftly
Dissolves their
Putrid falsehoods.
One family
Has more wealth
Than the bottom
Forty percent of
The population.
Unconstrained upward
Siphoning of resources,
Majority left to
Fight over
Crumbs.
Democracy falters,
Privileged scavengers
Rip the
Carcass of a nation
Apart.
Accolades don’t matter,
Winning isn’t important,
The university you attend or
What you own is
Completely meaningless,
Hollow constructs
Devised and promoted by
Scared, empty people.
The only thing that
Will every help you
Find bliss in life
Is to look within,
Do what you love,
Do your best, and
Love yourself and others.
She lifts up another
Necessity —
Winces resignedly —
Places it in the cart
Alongside all the other
Downsized,
Exhaustively engineered
Staples.
Stopping by the
Gas station —
Sigh of forced
Compliance —
Involuntary participant in
Rigged games,
Nickel and dimed
To extinction.
A dismissive
Defensive rebuttal
Followed by a list of
Inadequate reasons,
Justifications,
Rationalizations.
Outright denial of
Advantage based on
Outward appearance,
A system designed to
Favor certain people
While crushing others.
Slowly but surely,
Establish uniformity of
Speech, dress, belief.
Heighten nationalism,
Crush dissent,
Persecute intellectuals
Artists, the so-called elite.
Castigate learning,
Mistrust books – except one,
March in lockstep,
Everyone the same,
No one out of line,
On penalty of death.
Coalition of plutocrats and industry,
A pall descends over the land.
Easy to ignore
Their existence,
Not part of daily
Experience, concerns, routine.
No personal connection.
Perhaps they come into
Occasional view, some
News story about distant
Problems, those people
Doing what they always do.
Unperturbed by mentions of
Strife, decay, struggle.
Walk down the hall,
Well-appointed office,
Comfortable detachment.
