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Class warfare

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They say it’s class warfare, they say the rich have won

They don’t understand the hurly burly’s not done

Their smug sense of victory will be somewhat misplaced

It’s hard to be elite when the planet’s laid to waste

 

They plunder and they pillage and they take more than they need

They’re selling all our futures just to feed their selfish greed

They think they’re sitting pretty, up there above us all

Those highest in the burning tree will have farthest to fall

 

We’re pennies in their pockets, we’re pawns in their great game

Then they try to say the losers only have themselves to blame

Their master plan for dominance will have one major glitch

The day the poor have nothing left to eat but the rich

 

"There’s class warfare, all right, but it’s my class, the rich class, that’s making war, and we’re winning."

Warren Buffet

Interview with CNN, 25 May 2005, quoted by the New York Times 26 November 2006

Image: BayView, Someday the poor will run Wallstreet, Oct. 6 2011, http://sfbayview.com/2011/10/someday-poor-people-will-run-wall-street/comment-page-1/

Saturday funSaturday Rhymers ClubSRC

◄ Why the hell did I agree to this

Sunday evening teacher blues ►

Comments

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Don Matthews

Sun 7th Oct 2018 10:00

Golly gosh! I am seeing some sparks fly here
All this spittering and spattering around
It's good I don't take things too serious
That I live far away upside down

I too enjoy intellectual debating
But my level is a bit Aussie rough
Could do with a bit of spit and polish
Followed off with a good UK buff

Now you'll notice I always wear shades ?
Cos downunder I lie on beach with me mate
So I 'aint got much time Brian and Ferris
To fine tune-up my skills on debate

? (me relaxing on beach)

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Taylor Crowshaw

Sun 7th Oct 2018 09:16

This is a truly powerful piece of poetry Becky.. Brilliant thank you...?

<Deleted User> (18980)

Sat 6th Oct 2018 19:13

Now now Ferris...I didn't say that as you rightly know. My point was that it wouldn't take many poor choices on my part to find myself in a much poorer position financially, which in itself then leads to poorer health, lower self esteem etc.

But I don't want this to get into a spat between us and detract from Becky's excellent poem and her subsequent excellent argument on the ultra rich.

<Deleted User> (9882)

Sat 6th Oct 2018 15:44

the battle for equality is at best in a dodgy state, but it ain't over yet......


REJOICE!


good piece of pulpitting' Becky!



Rose ?

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Don Matthews

Sat 6th Oct 2018 15:31

Gosh! What our theme has produced here
Quite a winners and losers display
Of serious and varying opinions
Everyone having their say

You know I am very light-hearted
And like adding fun to the sight
And cos Brian has not done his fun bit
I'll say good piece Bec, and goodnight

yawn... ?

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Becky Who

Sat 6th Oct 2018 14:40

Rant alert:

Brian, I agree of course that wealth is relative. I could complain about my teacher’s salary when compared to IT specialists, bankers or the entry-level salary of the student engineers I teach. But it’s more than folk earn cleaning the street, emptying the bins or nursing the sick – all essential but unfortunately non-revenue-generating jobs. Perhaps I don’t make it clear in the poem, but I’m talking about the 1%, the ones that got richer off the financial crisis, the ones buying the luxury goods that are the principal (if not the only) industries to have grown since the financial crisis, the ones profiting from privatising the NHS and suchlike.

The way I see it, when one is unhappy for WHATEVER reason, be it poverty or something else, it takes great strength of character to resist the temptation of temporary quick fixes in order to block the stress, the noise or misery in one’s head, the discomfort of one’s situation – quick fixes such as drugs, cigarettes, alcohol, gambling. SOME rich people will be afflicted with unhappiness for whatever reason, and be unable to resist these traps too, but they (often) have the resources and the network both to indulge easily and subsequently cover their tracks, get the help they need and clear up their mess. I suspect it’s probably also easier to find that necessary strength of character when one is surrounded in comfort and supportive people, well-educated perhaps, and with easy access to necessary therapies and whatnot. Poorer folk, I feel, are much less likely to have these things. And as you say, someone is also getting rich off the suffering of others, flogging them the drugs, the cigarettes and the scratchcards, having with the other hand (directly or indirectly) cut the access to free healthcare, cut education, and taken away their jobs by outsourcing them somewhere cheaper. They are at least in part responsible for creating the “need” they then could claim to fulfil. And my guess is they also fund the media that manage to turn the story around and portray things in such a way that some people feel able to blame the poor for being their own worst enemies.
I’m sure there are some so-called self-made men that are to be admired and congratulated for raising themselves so high having started so low. But this is also relative: a few years ago I saw a BBC interview with the owner of a well-known sushi chain, where they asked him what he thought of some recently-announced increase to taxes businesses would pay (it was under Labour). His response was “it’s not fair, the government didn’t make my money, I did” – a response which quite frankly had me wanting to hurl things at my friend’s TV. So his customers magically appear in his restaurants, without using the roads paid for through taxes? And when one of his restaurants catches fire, Mr self-made sushi-superman will not be calling on government-funded fire services? It almost makes me want to call him that word you hate so much.

Sorry for the rant. Yes I’m sure some poor people are responsible for their situation, or are benefits frauds or whatever. But it is nothing in comparison to the fraud committed by the tax-dodging 1%, with the politicians in their pockets.

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Jon Stainsby

Sat 6th Oct 2018 14:34

Great!! Wonderful piece, Becky.

Big Sal

Sat 6th Oct 2018 13:49

I'm sure the top 1% enjoy telling themselves that their shit smells like roses, and that they are self-made men. That's like me joining the military, coming back home, and telling everyone I won the war by myself. Team efforts are rarely rewarded unless we're talking nepotism.

Great piece Becky. Last line was the best.

All the money in the world can't cure death though. Karma is definitely a bitch when it comes back around to collect.
?

<Deleted User> (18980)

Sat 6th Oct 2018 13:36

A political edge to this Becky which always takes my interest. It's always a moot point...who are the rich and who are the poor? It always has to be relative to something else. Am I rich? Well I'm richer than a lot of people, but on the other hand I live within my means and don't waste money on cigarettes, booze, betting, scratch cards and drugs. Big companies take advantages of these weaknesses in people, but are they to blame for poverty? They would claim they're providing a need. Aren't the poor their own worst enemy?

Good piece Becky.

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