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Hunger games

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The poor man died and was carried away by the angels to be with Abraham. The rich man also died and was buriedLuke 16:19-25

Take the earth’s resources from the poor.
rob them. They can’t fight back.
They have wives and children to feed.
yes boss. Sure will boss.

Let them do all the work, stretch
them on the rack of survival, grind them
and beat them and terrify and mistreat
them.

You're the wrecking ball of the Pharisees.
we want cheap labour, cheap food, cheap clothes, 
Jonathan Swift in A Modest Proposal suggested
that to avoid famine the Irish poor
should eat their own babies.

The proposal was indeed modest
as the famine came anyway in the 1840s
while the warehouses in Liverpool, Bristol and London were stuffed
with grain. The poor couldn’t pay.
their story's always the same.

They are gone but not forgotten
the global poor have nothing except their bodies
to sell. Exploitation that’s what they’re for,
we don’t share our wealth with them. No! No! For sure.

Don’t spoil them by being kind. Avoid paying taxes
if you can. The poor only waste it on food and clothes.
Give a  few crumbs to charity, if you must.
Unearned income is the best.
Remember the rich and the camels and the needles and the eyes
In the end there’s no disguise!

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Comments

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Uilleam Ó Ceallaigh

Sun 7th Jan 2024 10:37

Thank you, John.
Swift’s savage satire is as appropriate in 2024 as it was in 1729…a prophetic publication now brought to fulfilment by the wise words of Tory MP for Bury North:
“Most of the kids who struggle in Bury are the products of crap parents…”.

Indeed, Mr Daly; parents who, despite 13 years of Tory deprivation, insist on selling their children to humanity destroying populist gobshites, in return for a dose of the latest brand of snake oil.

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Stephen Gospage

Sun 7th Jan 2024 07:33

A fine, disturbing poem, John. Poverty is a deadly serious issue and we cannot sleep soundly as human beings while there are such crass inequalities in this world. Thank you.

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M.C. Newberry

Sat 6th Jan 2024 13:35

Which begs the question = was thie Bible actually written by
politicians? 😏 Wealth has its purpose and can do much good.
Like the gun, it is the mind and hand that renders the result for
good or bad. But. always a good subject for debate. I am aware that Jonathan Swifr, an Irishman who was born (and died) in Dublin, has a reputation as, amongst other things, a satirist, and a
political pamphleteer.

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