I Was A Predatory Capitalist Leader

I was a leader, safely locked inside my walled compound each and every night

A captain of commerce whose value to a firm was not measurable by accountants or the board

My pasty complexion and expensive suit masking a savage predatory capitalist

I was in absolute control of the great corporate ship, from my penthouse suite

Cadres of suckups competed for just the briefest moments of my attention

My time was deemed worth thousands of dollars per hour by my simpering lackeys

I pushed buttons controlling my political puppets from behind expensive closed doors

I lobbied for opening markets, protective tariffs and subsidies – so as to rake in huge bonuses

I played hardball with other swashbuckling executives groomed just like me

I OK’d worthless investment instruments and later said I had never understood them

I assured myself an ironclad golden parachute before even assuming any new position

We avoided any regulation, ruined the markets and then secured whopping, no-strings bailouts

I was borne secretly about in a personal helicopter to my private corporate jet

We assured them the crumbs of our prosperity trickled down thru our drains to them

I was a leader who one only saw accompanied by a trophy wife and a greasy lawyer

We innovated trade in leveraged gambles and stopped investing in actual business

I routinely merged, downsized, outsourced, raised prices, decreased services and got bonuses

I was on the cutting edge of a new global paradigm in corporate entrepreneurship

We called for personal responsibility as we reneged on all their promised benefits

We ignored their old and irrelevant lessons, for we were a new breed for a new age

I had my autobiography written and portrayed myself as folksy, kind and wise

We paid for candidates who granted us huge tax breaks and ended government oversight

I was a leader who read empty prepared statements and then jumped into waiting limos

I welcomed the chance to clear my name but dared not say a word on my own behalf

I cast a blind eye as our unregulated foreign suppliers adulterated our products

With global vision I exported our pollution to where slave labor was encouraged

I had spin doctors call for calm even as we unloaded our own toxic investments onto the taxpayers

When I had my assets secured I testified live about how awful it all made me feel

I was a leader for whom quarterly profit and stock price served as the only true guiding lights

We secured de-regulation, ran amuck until things collapsed, then whined for help

We stepped outside national boundaries, dangling bad jobs for great concessions

We quietly manipulated policy from the background, having bought & paid for the elections

I was paid millions to take total control but disavowed all responsibility in the end

I watched their panic from comfort, safety and security, decreed to be too big to fail

We received bonuses with gov’t bailout money even as we tightened up on our loan standards

I was a great leader whose vision and wisdom surely will be treasured by your children