Tuesday, April 26, 2011

Fearless, Furtive Corporate Leaders


Who are these leaders that we only follow because our paychecks barely cover us week to week?
These so-called captains of industry, siphoning off vast and undeserved riches

Preaching the value of competition while buying government import tariffs
From where do they draw the moral authority and social conscience to send our jobs overseas?

Masters of simultaneous backbiting and ass-kissing, they have shoulder-climbed to the top
Faceless drones in expensive suits, piously mouthing an ambiguous patriotic, political correctness

People who do not write and let others read their email, yet make great decisions
Their Insular MBAs, lawyers and accountants provide all the counsel they might ever need

Great swashbuckling heroes who lack the courage to meet the eyes of those they pay
Half man, half mannequin, parroting pre-digested, nonsensical, pre-recorded pabulum

Intrepidly guiding that great ship of capitalism from high above in a rich suite, safe on shore
Trained in the arts of cronyism and influence-peddling, they scuttle from the light of inquiry

They are our great moral beacons, illuminating all that’s good within our system
Lying and dealing to raise stock prices, stealing and then floating off under golden parachutes

Able to control simpering lackeys with the mere suspicious raising of an eyebrow
Mouthing pious platitudes about free trade while bribing officials for subsidies

Great patriots and defenders of freedoms with huge secret offshore accounts
Supporters of human rights running sweatshops throughout the third world

Brave knights of capitalism on a quest to secretly become Masters of the Universe
Good fathers they are, sending our children’s jobs to foreign lands forever

Far-seeing leaders whose great vision sometimes might even extend beyond next quarter’s results
Defenders of democracy, running brutal, petty, hidden dictatorships all their own

Falsely pumping stock prices through churning by formulaic mergers, layoffs and synergy
Slashing jobs and benefits by the magic twenty percent analysts approve

Whining that America requires better education in science and math
Outsourcing engineering and research jobs, saving money for perhaps one whole year

Commanding lavish perqs, bonuses and stock options as star players
Yet, their actual contributions are not measurable by standard accounting methods

Treating the masses like sheep, hand-in-hand with friendly political sock puppets
They measure world progress by secret internal financial statements and stock market numbers

Staying on message via the media they have simplified and conglomerated
Blithely not even reporting that which ruffles their sponsor’s agendas

Benevolent dictators of food, fashion, sport, automobiles and recreation
Agilely co-opting, cheapening and offshore mass-producing other’s ideas for quick profits

Marginalizing dissident voices via their paid professional ‘opinion leaders’
Upbeat no matter what, and inevitably ‘eager for the chance to clear my name’ without no comment

Insulated in estates, limousines and personal jets, they listen to their guts
Their god-given talents wasted on greed, hubris and corporate politics

Who are these ‘leaders’ at whose behest politicians rail so loudly against over-regulation?
Who spends millions on crafted corporate images which totally bely their real actions & intentions?

They preach the wisdom and benevolence of the unfettered free marketplace
Meanwhile, blackmailing for tax breaks and whining of regulation’s costs in jobs and money

They extol the benefits of free enterprise, competition and entrepreneurship
They merge and acquire towards a goal of tightly-controlled global oligarchies

Hiding, shifting and conniving to ‘make their numbers’ and fool the analysts
Dumping pumped, exorbitant stock options at the top of an artificial curve they created

Lying about leaving to ‘pursue other interests’ or ‘to spend more time with their families’
They feel terrible for employees watching as locked retirement savings evaporate

How is it they are revered as all-powerful, absolute, unchallenged dictators? -
While always claiming they did nothing and knew nothing of those many wrongdoings

They rise based on their need for attention, all consuming greed and blackhole egos
When under scrutiny they appear mute in fine suits with expensive lawyers who do all the talking

They retreat inside secured compounds saying they look forward to clearing their names
Once they have safely sheltered their takings they express their grief and deepest sympathies

Who are these swashbuckling lieutenants who cook books to woo the analysts?
Smirking masters of slick PowerPoints posturing behind hardwood podiums in fine suits

Shallow and petty, vapid and vain, pathologically-focused and viciously passively-aggressive
Living proof of the innate infallibility of the so-called blind hand of the free marketplace

Unrepentant yet deeply concerned, wrist-slapped, but still our models going forward
Whining for subsidies while bribing for reductions in tariffs on their outsourced goods

Retiring to supervise the creation of fictional autobiographies and scam motivational courses
Who are these polished liars promising the better jobs of tomorrow as they offshore us forever?

How is it their compensation skyrockets as they slash wages, jobs, benefits and pensions?
Faceless fearless leaders pulling strings behind the scenes, sage masters of their known universe

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