Who Would Do These Things?

Which child would jesus collaterally blow the legs off in a campaign of shock and awe

          Where would George Washington have evened a personal score

Which bloody African crisis is far more profitable to simply ignore

Where have Jay and Madison and Tom Paine gotten off to

          What faceless corporate figureheads stand tall in their places

Which agency slickly packages the promotion of their short-sighted agendas

Why is it unpatriotic and practically a terrorist act

          If one does not press Yes in every vote for more defense spending

Why does the illiterate enemy lives in caves wearing dirty bathrobes and sandals

Why is it called defense when we are the ones attacking

          How is it that all the major lands are wrong, and just we are right

And who are we really, standing alone and righteous, behind our one true god

Why do the rag-tag enemies rejoice in our invasion

          And stream on in with new recruits and plenty of fresh money -

to places they were never allowed to go to before

how does draining wetlands, cutting forests, relaxing emissions

          preserving the sanctity of marriage and stopping abortion -

add to our so-called precious national heritage and traditional family valuesÔ

who would Moses leave in tears amid the rubble of what was at best a shack 

who hides behind the bullshit line ‘My country right or wrong’

why would we think that those who so blindly got us in, could safely lead us out

why does it cost billions a month to keep me safe here in the heartland

          and why can’t my children read

where are those awful WMDs that were such an immediate threat to my family

who would take such huge bonuses while sending research jobs overseas

          how much gall does it require to tell us that it is good for the country

how long until their compounds are breached and we stone them outside, in the sun

who believes that sales and marketing will innovate when R & D is in India

          who thinks everybody here will be able to use their college education

who says unemployment figures should not count those who have given up looking

where does the constitution say corporations control the executive branch

          would Eisenhower have negated an anti-missile treaty

did Kennedy ridicule government scientists if it helped out a conglomerate donator

who would provide a semi-conquered people free universal healthcare

          who would allow 50 million citizens to work without health insurance

who would smirkingly declare “Bring ‘em on” beneath a “Mission Accomplished” banner

where did the trillion dollar debts come from in those short, greedy years

          why have giant tax cuts for the rich not trickled down to stem the increase in poverty

Who would profit on packaging worthless loans and then blackmail society for a bailout

why do our wonderful young people torture prisoners while snapping cellphone pictures

          upon what unstable high ground do we stand and preach with moral authority

how can those who led us in with their blind hubris lead us out with our honor

when did our freedom of the press succumb to for-profit entertainment

          it appears that if no child is to be left behind, then all must finish last

when did simultaneous shouting replace reasoned public debate

did Lincoln choke on a corporate snack watching football on the couch

          why wont the arabs pump more oil after seeing our soldiers every day

where would the Crusaders have defecated just to anger local residents

how is the Middle East better with us dropping drones and outsiders killing everywhere

          why cant ‘old europe’ understand our need to prostelyze with arms

just how are we safer despite our vast spending in a global war on terror

how do our ADT-affected children spend hours raptly playing video games, yet cannot study

      why cant all production, engineering and R&D be done cheaper far away

by what inalienable right should your offspring have the opportunity to live just as well as you

who would censor the reality of death and war to maintain popular political support

          why is it unpatriotic to decry a foolish decision acted upon ineptly

where are these bogeymen who cost us half a trillion for defense each year

how can these children compete for the good careers of tomorrow -

with mercury in their brains and diesel truck fumes in their tubercular lungs

what new skilled jobs await the 70% who do not understand simple interest

who would let corporate timber clearcut just the large trees that they crave

          and smirkingly give it a fanciful name like ‘Healthy Forests’

who would relax pollution standards and label it their ‘Clear Skies Initiative’

why would the government unfairly relax fuel and pollution standards for fat SUVs & pickups

          who has the gall to label job exportation a patriotic expression of free trade

who, meanwhile, votes agricultural subsidies to protect their donor’s corporate farms

who would ridicule, silence and ignore scientists who present unfavorable findings

        who gives money to the groups whose prejudice is blessed by their god

how does spending millions on attack ads enhance the electoral process

how, you ask, are we safer at home with our boys dying every day far away

          who, then, has actually cut off the oil supply and forced us into fracking

where are the good new jobs to replace those farmed out forever overseas

how is it then that evangelical christians actually differ from muslim fundamentalists

who would dare ask: where it is still morning in this land that we demand that god bless

You Could Be

Reinventing Ourselves

You could become a mechanical engineer

          but wait, those jobs are going off to India to save money for GE

You could become a financial analyst

          but, christ, those positions have long gone overseas

You could get trained in civil engineering but roads are just roads the world over

and foreigners do the same work without the half your overhead

You could do software programming but you were not born and raised in Bangalore

and Americans are too expensive to work in the trendy new age India

You could get your MBA and go off into management

          but all the lower middle managers got RIF'd and became so-called consultants

or work from somewhere else, far away in different timezones

You could study electrical engineering but unless you get on somewhere in china

it would have to remain just an entertaining hobby

         

You could become a carpenter, but the Mexicans can live on half what you do

8 to an apartment, and they don't even ask for no kind of stinkin benefits

You could become a physicist

          and be laughed at while working at some unrelated and menial task

You could train as a policeman, paramedic or maybe a valiant firefighter

          But, alas, you are too much a hands-off, head-down, pencil neck geek

You could morph into a salesman

          but you are not that type of ruthless, grasping, self-centered swine

You could study to be a production engineer

          Oh, but, that’s right, there are no more factories here

You could learn your biotech and genomes

          but big Pharma can save on R and D in the lands of barefoot people

to then spend more on marketing and their own lavish executive perqs

You could become a professor but why should foreigners come here to study

just to move right on back home where they can find the good jobs now

You could become a doctor competing with immigrants to treat for corporations

your decisions monitored and approved by offshore cost accountants

You could take up the honorable study of the law and learn to hate yourself

          like way too many others chasing ever fewer and even more dishonest dollars

you might become a petroleum geologist and help Exxon search for oil

          but 6 skinny Indians will work for what they would have to pay just you

         

you could bet on computer engineering but the only jobs would be in defense

building more things whose only purpose is death and mass destruction

you could study psychology and work in tech support

          but, oops, your job now exists only in Romania

you could become a mechanic, fixing banker's expensive cars

          but watch out for that foreigner who just agreed

to work without benefits for half as much as you could live on

you could open up a little place to deal in the intimacies of your longtime hobby

          and compete against the Fortune 500 bringing in all their stuff from China

you might become a farmer, to help to feed the people and preserve our soil

competing against faceless corporations receiving massive governmental subsidies

you could become a dentist, personable and well-groomed

          yet how many now can afford 150 bucks for five minutes of your precious time

you could become a plumber, driving an expensively loud and smoky new diesel

          but your customer base is shrinking as their lives are being downsized

you might consider truck driving, if your heart can take the extra weight,

the nicotine and the heavy doses of methamphetamines

you might like to be an accurate and competent staff accountant

          but your job is on computer and further analysis is done in foreign offices

maybe you could become a pure theoretical mathematician

          you will do your job out of love and have no need of real food or money

you could become a priest and help them try to spread their silly nonsense

          god certainly knows they need some kind of help, but you ladies need not apply

you could become a politician if your family has the background

          and your way was paid for at the best of schools

and you will sell out easily and often to those who pay for your elections

you could become an outright criminal if you lack the people skills for sales

or simply sell long-term care insurance to the frightened, sick and elderly

you could be a stock broker, shouting  loud and drinking hard,

          but the pump and dump to chump days may be already over

you could become one of our cadre of noble teachers

          and be laughed at and abused by the worthless offspring of the ignorant

yet not earn enough to be able to raise any children of your own

you could plan a career in nursing to nobly help the sick and wounded

          maybe spend your life working with angry filipinos

changing tubes and cleaning up under the old people rotting in their overpriced beds

you could grow up bagging groceries or working checkout down at WalMart

for these are the steady, good-paying jobs of today…and probably tomorrow

maybe you could study six years to become a pharmacist

then watch your job be put up on the internet

to be done by computers and low-skilled, contract labor

perhaps you aspire to a noble career in journalism

          save up for your plastic surgery, hair implants and reworked teeth

then practice your teleprompter skills in a mirror by the hour

you could train as an airline pilot by bombing primitive peoples into the stone age,

          then work for a low-cost airline earning seniority for many years

trying to stay awake while the computer flies the plane

make a career in financial planning and change your long-term advice every year

and try to take people’s money up front

for telling them to assume risks that you will never share

if you are interested in good old-fashioned public service

          think about a career as a legislative lobbyist

spreading cash, peddling influence and focusing senators on client’s legislation

imagine yourself as a powerful soccer mom,

          you could be chauffeuring tiny celebrities inside a posh mini-van

cultivating reasoned opinions about a world you live apart from

get yourself pregnant before dropping out of high school,

          live like a hoe, then make money like one, too

wind up in jail for a long spell, while your children grow up alone

try your hands at the fine arts or letters

          better learn to suck up to rich old women and gay connoisseurs

or maybe you could get a grant from the national endowment

          just don’t produce anything that’s too liberal for your evangelical congressman

When the voice of reason is drowned out...

The foolish student hears of the Tao and laughs aloud – Lao Tzu

when the people measure their success

by what they see in movies

honest work and a real education

must be viewed as the pointlessness of losers

when the old are not respected

even though they are still alive

and the latest thing is so important

the most recent must be forgotten

when the voice of reason is drowned out

by songs of clever hype

and the ignorant swell with a pride gained by rejecting learning

it is effortless to mold their children to be just the same

when accessibility means that ATVs and snowmobiles

should run free throughout our forests

then personal watercraft and vapid speedboats

can emit their smoky exhausts underwater

when the land is ripped and cut while still alive

without regret, much less any ceremony

domestic animals are held like hostages

inside concentration camps for slaughter and cellophane

when all we eat is poisoned by

petrochemical concoctions

that make for higher yields

mass production has won the day upon thy fruited fields

when societies forbid a woman's learning

but let her raise their leaders in bare feet

as they grow more ignorant and even poorer

they look outside for someone they can blame

when anonymous conglomerates

provide for all your needs

and interlocking directorates invisibly set the country's course

the ultimate seamless integration looms nearer every day

when strip malls drape all potentially profitable street corners

destroying our uniqueness

and digital signals coat us uniformly with slick advertainment

some of the disillusioned brothers take up vows of silence

when the government routinely informs us

not to eat the fish from our lakes and streams

and lets asthmatic children breathe diesel fumes on their way to school

regulation is expensive and could easily cost you jobs and money

when every year is up among the ten hottest ever seen

and all the glaciers on the equator melt like soft ice cream

and tropical diseases spread far to the north

the clean and killing cleaning frosts of winter disappear

when the government warns against junk science

and politicos rail against so-called fuzzy maths

they still ask us to believe the facts they cite

when pushing the agendas of their financial benefactors

when the media ignores humanitarian crises around the globe

and concentrates on chewy nonsense, safe for their advertisers

then the great cats and the primates can be driven into extinction

as the old trees are cut down and the pygmies are sent to live in town

when real men spend their free time

in expensive, brutish recreation

swilling canned drinks and greasy food

suddenly they are sixty with prostates swelled like lemons

when the citizenry disdainfully make no attempt

to grasp the way the things which support them work

and dismiss such tasks to others

they are quickly fleeced by crooked techies, they pay with overdue credit cards

when all the faithful pray to a god who they still believe

must bless their fair land the most every day

and is, with all certainty, playing on their side

they can admit of a solemn righteousness with all this in his hands

when all our government becomes an aristocracy

with royal families and traditions

their lawyers and lobbyists will rule the legislature

passing the requested laws of tithing corporations

when your land is a better and safer place to live

but you are not quite sure how or why

you know for certain that you must be for it,

for you definitely cannot be against it

when its either gay or sissy to worry about the planet

or think about the future

it becomes simpler to go off to some impoverished land

and pound a backwards people

when golf is considered quite a sport

even though you are forced to ride about in a little cart

and Doing Lunch is passed off as some form of real work

good jobs await other’s children in the future that you shape

when you waste a lot more than you were ever worth

yet your wants seem never to be fulfilled

and you are not quite sure where your desires come from

then media hypnosis has you blindly in its net

when you see the new construction and increased traffic every day

while on your long way once again to more pointless work

at last you will no longer even wonder

why it will never make a lot of sense

when there are always more people around this year

than there ever were the last

you realize the pointlessness of trying to escape the crowds

already gathered anywhere decent that you go

when all you seem to do is work

and the time goes by so fast

it is easy not to notice that

this vapidly-consumptive lifestyle cannot last

when you can look up suddenly

after thirty years have passed

and see there is no end in sight

what happens when you realize that you cannot run much longer?

when you have come so damn far that

all your dreams somehow don’t matter any longer

since you now have other interests

what can you look back upon that makes any sense at all?

When all the rain that falls cannot wet the soil

And all the days of winter cannot cool the air

How far are we, really, then

From those dusty camps full of haggard, begging refugees?

When all the wild places are convenient to identical corporate storefronts

And our forests become dull backyard amusement parks

At last the only wildness remaining in the West

Spews from our reckless minds

When all the fossil fuels have been guzzled down

And there is not enough water to go around

While the hot wind blows dust into every corner

How will our great war machines be run?

When no one can save up enough to provide for their own future

But the dirty screaming mobs demand an ever larger circus

Resource wars will provide us with safe and pleasant diversions

And things will keep on moving right along, in the same wrong direction

When the average Bangladeshi child is better educated than your son

You will, nonetheless, find him entitled to a future in the first world

For have not your surrogates: television, internet and his game consoles

forged him into a job-competitive leader of this new global order?

When even grandmothers are filled with pointless anger

Why are the Canadians, Germans and French so much less violent

Who made it so easy for you to hate and wound and kill

No matter if the enemy is your brother or a stranger in a foreign land

When we have wiped out all the charismatic mega-fauna

And the wildlife that children know consists of only

Stray cats, giant rats, flies, roaches and ugly spiders in their beds

Who could believe your old stories of clean water and fresh air?

When all the boomers are outsourced, downsized and laid off

they see that they have nothing left to show

except their monthly payments for sixty something foolish years

Note with what great style they ride off, leaving their mess in your lap

When the monsoon fails to come because the hot seas no longer circulate

More than a billion Indians will show us a new way

While a billion more hungry Chinamen build houses, schools and factories

On their very finest farmland which already barely feeds them

When all the porpoises are dead from military sonar and factory tuna fishing

There will be one less silly debate through which we have to suffer

And jobs and the economy can more easily assume their rightful places

Along with canned entertainment, at the center of our lives

When all the scowling Imams governing by the Koran are killed or captured

We can send in the evangelical missionaries to set them straight at last

A couple rigged and sorry elections and maybe a few fast food franchises

Should set them happily upon the glorious path of freedom and democracy

Time And Time Again We Ignore...

Time and again they tell us of

Natural systems that are collapsing

Time and again we glimpse

Species as they are disappearing

Time and again it is said that

such and such practices are not sustainable

Time and again we hear of

Shameful waste that must be stopped

Time and again we read about

Shocking crimes in our own society

Time and again we think that

we must finally take a stand

time and again we ignore

the quiet truth that surrounds us all

Time and again they tell us of

The wondrous power of prayer

Time and again we help ourselves

to more than we can ever use

Time and again it is said that

Clean air and water cost too much in jobs and money

Time and again we hear of

Liberal plots against our family values

Time and again we read about

The ways our children fall even further behind

Time and again we think that

Common sense must begin to prevail at last

Time and again we ignore

The unread lessons of our musty past

Time and time again they pummel us with

These vital issues like gay marriage and abortion

Time and again we see

The free market drive up the price of disappearing goods

Time and again it is said that

Fuzzy thinking and junk science are plotting against us

Time and time again we hear of

The costs of so-called environmental racism

Time and again we read about

The grinding poverty of the global masses

Time and again we think that

Events a world away do not affect us

Time and again we ignore

The subtle signals nature sends

Time and again they share with us

Their clear visions of our bright future

Time and again we see

Too many people carrying water and cutting firewood

Time and again it is said that

Giving our jobs away will help to make us richer

Time and again we hear of

Subversive media plots pushing a godless agenda

Time and again we read about

CEOs eliminating jobs and slashing benefits and getting huge rewards

Time and again we think that

Surely now things must, at last begin to change

Time and again we ignore

The legacy of our uncontrolled consumption

Time and again they tell us of

Their duty to defend us, as they attack

Time and again we see

Peaceful pictures on the wall and bulldozers out the window

Time and again it is said that

Politics and religion have a place in scientific debates

Time and again we hear of

The latest in unbelievable social atrocities

Time and again we read about

Dire new threats to the environment

Time and again we think that

Certain trends can surely go no further

Time and again we ignore

Things we cannot, or do not wish to see changed

Time and again they tell us of

Horrible tragedies in far off lands

Time and again we see that

Freedom of expression turns an arrogant ignorance into a virtue

Time and again our shopping habits tells them

Mass-produced food at rock-bottom prices makes us happy

Time and again we hear of

miracle breakthroughs for baldness, impotence and weight loss

Time and again we read about

People just trying to obtain a little clean drinking water

Time and again we assume that

Our lives will continue in this style on into the Happily-ever-after

Time and again we ignore

Global facts which do not suit our national agenda

Time and again they tell us irrelevant stories

Of mighty civilizations that have crumbled into the dust

Time and again we are pounded with

Another complex issue reduced to a 30 second sound bite

Time and again it is said that

Wars of liberation will bring about freedom and democracy

Time and again we hear of

The inexcusable differences between the rich and the poor

Time and again we read about

Poaching and habitat destruction threatening one more species

Time and again we are assured that

Corporate globalization inevitably leads to a better world

Time and again we ignore

The unsustainable overpopulation that further dims all our futures

Time and again they tell us of

The average person’s struggle to attain the barest needs of survival

Time and again we see that

Some casually waste more than most ever have to consume

Time and again it is said that

Tax breaks for the richest are the surest way of reducing poverty

Time and again we hear of

Cultures where women remain ignorant, veiled, barefoot and pregnant

Time and again we see pictures of

Diarrheic babies, bloated and hungry, with fly-encrusted eyes

Time and again we are told that

It is fruitless to try and fathom the mystery of god’s will

Time and again we ignore

The wanton destruction of the very earth that supports us

Time and again they tell us of

The power of local control to protect everything important

Time and again we watch as

Hungry people cut down trees as their goats graze the land bare

Time and again our leaders assure us that

God blesses our country and guides their great decisions

Time and again we hear

Foreign religious fanatics proclaiming holy wars against such infidels as us

Time and again we are reminded that

God’s gift of the soul separates us from the animals

Time and again we ignore

Tainted facts that emanate from pre-condemned sources

Time and again they tell us of

The need to ensure that their unnecessary sacrifice will not be in vain

Time and again we see that

We gain by the inhuman labor of the peasants who took our jobs

Time and again it is said that

The miracle of compound growth will set us all free in the end

Time and again we are made just dimly aware of

Tragic events that can never happen here

Time and again we are quite confident that

We can simply muddle through the unforeseen effects of our unplanned actions

Time and again we ignore

The myriad small changes, so that we do not see their net effects

Time and again they tell us of

The foolishness of taking expensive action, without real certainty

Time and again we see that

We need to trust them as they act in secret, relying upon their personal faith

Time and again it is said that

We must globalize, downsize and outsource to compete

Time and again we hear of

Heinous plots against our beliefs and freedom by heathen enemies

Time and again we re-assure ourselves of

The correctness of our actions without re-examining our assumptions

Time and again reports indicate how little our children are learning

Yet we still treat them as if they were future world leaders

Time and again we give a little thanks while praying for even more

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