Sunday, March 10, 2013

The Populist


He is not a bad man;
He is an intelligent man.
But he is ignorant,
And thus incompetent.

He is the Peter Principle writ large,
Rising to the highest level of incompetence,
Above any role that he was prepared for,
Nor than he can manage successfully.

His ego tells him that he is the anointed one.
He surrounds himself with hacks
Who are as ignorant as he is
About the workings of the economy.

In meetings with those who do,
He becomes embarrassed by his ignorance,
Changes the subject abruptly
And dismisses them quickly.

He has noble aims, like all populists,
To better the lives of the common people.
He is perfectly willing
To bankrupt the country to do so.

He delegated to Congress
Full authority to spend as they please,
So they fashioned programs that are
Huge, unworkable systems.

The people love him, the majority that is,
Because they believe he can do magic.
When they confront their situations,
They will realize they have been cheated.

The due bill is enormous;.
Someone has to pay it.
That can only come from
Higher costs and reduced income.

However, all is not lost.
There are grownups around
Who will chip away at
This wall of misguided governance.

More important, this is America.
The animal spirits are still alive.
Those who can, will work around
Whatever obstacles are in their way.

The economy can still arise
From its deep slumber,
In a way that is harsher
Than the people expect.

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