Capitalism Shooting Craps

It pledges allegiance to only one flag,
And the republic for which it stands,
The United Stakes of casino is its band,
Plugging a free-market only-right stand.

No country has a claim for which it rests,
Only profit gives it any soulful zest.
They’ll rip out the utility of input remains,
Impart meager wages for toil they retain.

Financialization, a fancy term for a swipe,
Put money into speculation of every stripe.
It’s sterile investment for the country as a whole,
But lines the pockets of the rich, with no toll.

It squeezes out investment for productive deeds,
It’s debt-fueled speculation using idle proceeds.
Existing to enrich grifters, hedgers and CEO friends,
While small business suffer meager help with lends.

Wall Street zombies push new tax laws insane,
Equal rewards for short and long-term gains.
A GOP Congress grovels for lobbyists teeming for the rich,
While treating constituents like an army of bitch.

It’s tech-related job destruction and employment being shelved,
While financial systems screw productive ventures and serve themselves.
Two trillion dollars of balance sheet cash help moguls to roll the dice,
While their policy takes on debt to balloon their stock market price.

Short term profits for hedgers, CEOs and well-padded props,
New firms are pauperized, 50 year downers, growth went pop.
Never mind job creation and a nation’s GDP growth,
They’d rather pledge to casinos than entrepreneurial troth.

James Hoover is a recently retired systems engineer. He has advanced degrees in Economics and English. Prior to his aerospace career, he taught high school, and he has also taught college courses. He recently published a science fiction novel called Extraordinary Visitors and writes political columns on several websites. Read other articles by James.