Power
…to the people,
I’m going tell you something
you may not want to hear.
You may honestly agree with me,
but you’ll find yourself in the minority.
Because there are people
out there who will tell you
that everyone deserves the best,
everyone deserves a chance,
everyone deserves to be treated fairly,
but they draw a line, and when that line
reaches their pocketbook,
you watch them flip.
I’m not talkin’ a coin toss.
No way is it 50/50.
Given the chance, they’ll flip.
I want this.
I want that.
I want the latest toy.
They want what they want,
as soon as they want it,
and as many times as they want it,
usually at the expense of someone else.
To give them what they want,
the companies sent production overseas,
and with it went the jobs,
many of them good paying
union jobs. But that’s okay,
because people don’t want others
to have what they don’t have,
whether it’s the latest toy,
job protection,
fair treatment,
or decent wages.
So, all they have to hear is “union,”
and what they hear is “high prices.”
Now, this didn’t happen overnight.
It may be going on right now,
but it’s been going on for a lonnng time.
At one time, unions in this country
were strong, but then purchasing power
transferred power to the corporations,
and all that went out the window.
And people think they got what they wanted.
So when you say you want more power,
remember,
you already gave it away.
This is a response to Poetic: Allen Ginsburg and the Beat Generation, the prompt from Sanaa at dVerse ~ Poets Pub, which is to write a poem in the style of the Beat Generation – although this probably is a rant as much as anything else.
Graphic source: cleanpng
rivrvlogr 
You got that right. And as long as people’s investments are linking to corporations and how well their stocks do, they will keep the rotten machine rolling.
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Great line to end on. People toss their principles out the window when it comes to getting cheap junk even cheaper.
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This is gorgeously rendered, Ken! I especially resonate with; “They want what they want,
as soon as they want it, and as many times as they want it, usually at the expense of someone else.” Yes! Thank you so much for adding your voice to the prompt 💜💜
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You speak the truth, my friend. Just as bad, many people in this country have given away their power to think critically, to the detriment of everyone. Ugh.
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So true, Ken–and also what Liz said.
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A very powerful, thought-provoking write.
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This is so true and strong. And the irony is, they still think they don’t have enough…(makes me also think of that song “Too Much of Nothing”)
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Excellent!!!
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Indeed… I don’t always agree with the unions, but at least here in Sweden the companies and unions started working together making it better both for the people and for the companies… it didn’t help though for some jobs moving overseas… alas it’s us wanting it cheap.
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Amen Ken! 👊🏼✌🏼❤️
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