The ugly belly of robber barons

To make money do what you may And let no rules come in your way, Capitalism blares As laissez-faire declares Wild ways to thievery, Packaged nigh cleverly For robber barons of today, Who should look in mirror To reflect on error And ponder, made they are of clay. ____________________ Happenings |19.11.2024|money, business, mirror Poet’s note: US, who has charged an Adani company of financial misdeeds, needs to look into its own history of capitalism. The first two lines of this ditty talk of what laissez-faire was and still largely is. A list compiled in 1934 named 26 robber barons (a German term for knights who charged illegal tolls from travellers along with other forms of thuggery). The list includes Andrew Carnegie, JP Morgan, and John D Rockefeller-- who later turned philanthropists and promoters of art to earn rubber stamp of public approval. The country reminds us of a cat on a pilgrimage: Upon killing hundreds of mice, A cat is out to wash her vice, On holy pilgrimage To pop up her image, Poor mice paying her laundry price.