When the learned Faustus made his pact
With the Seducer with a horn,
Our souls became commodities
As Capitalism was born.
Capital pushes the boundaries
Of glittering thinginess
From one gizmo to the next
In clinking progress.
Capital solves all problems
And in doing so
Ensures that it generates
Another twenty two.
Thus it is that we are
Kept profitably occupied,
With a Chip here and an App there,
Bolstered by a pride
Not in our human calling
But in the tinsel we acquire;
Our throb and wonder dead in us,
We become seller and buyer.
Glossy-plastic faces then
From TV screen jingles sing;
They remind us of our backwardness,
Not having bought the latest thing.
Imagine how our faces fall,
And our conversation wobbles
Even among our nearest relatives
Upfront with the newest baubles.
Nothing comes to our aid—
Shakespeare nor Socrates;
Our soulful longings thus become
Weaknesses and disease.
Capital then says the clinic
Or the psychiatric ward
Are our best recourses–
Both owned by some corporate god.
Alas that eight of ten entities
Have no resource to pay,
Being neither buyers nor sellers,
But toilers of the day
Meant merely to generate wealth
That keeps Capital pink;
Were they to get an equal share,
Capitalism would sink.
Which is where eligion
Comes in so handy;
It saves us from ourselves,
And keeps Capital dandy.
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