way back in the beginning,
Europe wanted gold;
the people were restless
and the rulers were getting old.
They sent their emissaries
over into the new world
where stood a new philosophy
of utilitarianism that unfurled.
With gold nearly valueless
while industrial revolution brews;
kings are stuck without tools
while rebels use screws.
They built their way into new leaders,
being perhaps, a bit more kind,
allowing the citizenry a say in who
will take the creativity from their mind;
though this did take many years
and generations did come and go,
the continued struggle between leaders and led
did result in landing good blows.
The owned and the owner
simply could not agree
on the scarcity of labor
to any exacting degree
leaving the owners themselves
very nearly in the crosshairs
of angry, starving people
if the owners would not share.
As with all great things,
there are lines of time and place,
and in these delicate meetings
New Deals are the new face
of leaders being determined
to save their false authority
in a compromise that nearly hurts
to offer sustenance to a majority.
And leaders with vision
will not let this go on long,
giving up the monies earned
from a working man’s song
and with a resounding thud
they found new technologies
and ventured out to spread the word
of the capital ideology.
In competition, they would say,
is the path to a better life;
their competition, on the other hand,
says cooperation ends the strife.
But not a single truth ever did
drip from out of their teeth
because of the power vested in a few;
the owned were still owned underneath.
the pawns in their games,
all but new acquisitions,
led the ice wars raging in a furnace
as empires vied for position
while safely buffered here at home,
Europe to the east and Japan to the west,
our economic engine bellowing,
a middle class came to rest.