The Rhyme of the Depressed Economist

The Rhyme of the Depressed Economist

Part 1: The Present


The world has changed, it holds its breath and uncertainty taints the breeze,
Economies stagger, governments topple and confidence is diseased.
Nations jostle; pick their sides, nervously looking on,
Dread permeates, tensions flair, old alliances are gone.

China strengthens its global grip on access to resources,
While America to, sustain their dollar, martial all their forces.
Proxy wars erupt worldwide, enemies backed by rival powers,
Tariffs rise, borders are shut, and international relations are soured.

Industrial nations pollute, oil is fracked, climate change is denied,
Oil and gas, propping up the dollar, ensures concerns are set aside.
Oceans rise, forests shrink, Homo sapiens multiplies,
Pollution runs into the rivers, the ocean slowly dies.

War, pestilence, famine and death, they stalk the human race,
Flora and fauna disappear, whole ecologies gone without trace,
Birth rates rise, death rates fall, developing nations overflow,
Mass migrations bypass nations, to greener pastures go.

The global banking system, has encouraged financial Armageddon,
Fuelling debt across the world, corruption stinks to heaven.
Oligarchs and monopolies have captured global growth,
Politicians in the western world are lying under oath.

Debt envelopes the whole globe, bringing countries to their knees,
Money printing, lower interest rates, economies collapsing by degrees.
Multinational firms, hedge fund managers, rape the financial system,
When pressed for tax, they head for havens, accounting fraud assists them.

Inequality devastates the human race, return us all to feudalism,
Where billionaire lords, rule us all, and create a mighty schism.
Rich v poor, race v race, old religions fight for power,
As resources thin and people compete, unity is devoured.

Strides forwards in a freer society are halted or reversed,
The right attracts the worried voter, the people are coerced.
To close their borders, to throw back guests, and leave them high and dry,
Labour competition fear is what’s used to justify.

Enormous social media companies, control all speech and thought,
With flowing regional allegiances, their alliance can be bought.
Narratives are created and lines of thinking are shut down,
Driving masses of subscribers, deeply underground.

This power is held in the grasp, of a handful of powerful owners,
Who’s shifting moral paradigm, can be bought by secret donors.
From nation to nation, land to land, their terms and conditions change,
What is fine to say in one domain is in another considered deranged.

Freedoms erode across the globe as titans secure their power,
Speech is banned, dissenters squashed, choices diminish by the hour.
Cameras stand on every street, citizens are spied on,
Politicians use terror to justify and cannot be relied on.


The world stands upon the precipice, in ways we are devolving,
Currencies plummet, trade is hindered, and governments are dissolving.
The environment is on life support, great nations stand ready for battle,
Humans breed out of control, great herds of sentient cattle.

A tragedy of the commons, a brutal Malthusian check,
The wealthy batten down the hatches, the economy is wrecked,
The global political paradigm, hamstrung and corrupt,
When the end event occurs, it will be terrible and abrupt.


Part 2: The Past

How has it come to this? The days are gone down in the west.
At what point did we lose control, our species in distress.
At the end of World War 2, the great powers made a pledge,
To work together, to end all violence, to retreat us from the edge.

The Bretton Woods institutions were founded, to ensure prosperity for all,
The United States’ Marshall Plan rebuilt the world, and a gold standard was installed.
All currencies across the world would be linked to the United States own cash,
And in turn, this dollar to gold was linked, to prevent the chance of crash.

The old colonies of the developing world, from the western powers, regained autonomy,
To build their nations, choose their governance, grow economies.
The Middle East was carved in parts; many tribes became whole nations,
With oil and gas now central, to international relations.




Communism and democracy were decided upon by multiple new nations,
With either choice, with pros and cons, with political implications.
The USA and the USSR, tussled for supremacy,
Their chosen economic systems battled, and caused much enmity.

With nuclear power to the fore, each side much feared destruction,
The Cuban missile crisis in 62 was the closest it came to eruption.
As the decades rolled on, the Russians got weaker, and communism failed.
The United States, and capitalism, had ultimately prevailed.

In the early 70s, Richard Nixon, struck a deal with the House of Al Saud,
From that day forth, all oil trading, in only dollar was allowed.
All currencies were now allowed to float, no longer tied to gold,
Each nation would be responsible for their own currency control.

Forty years of global growth ensued, poverty declined,
Smaller developing nations with help began to grind.
In Africa and South America, strong trade links were forged,
Economic relations lead to GDPs that surged.

The world though were all deceived and the long summer could not last,
History was not investigated, ignored and laughed at was the past.
All currencies that were printed, since the dawn of time,
Have inevitably failed, as their value was undermined.

To sustain the demand for the dollar, the US ignited war,
Anyone who defied Washington had their nations torn.
Larger nations railed at this, why should they have all the say?
Their currencies and economies dictated to from very far away.


First China used its mercantilism, to replace American hegemony,
Then Russia entered the Middle East, to sow disharmony.
Europe re-evaluated their position and slowly grew apart,
And many other allied nations looked for a fresh start.

The global banking system had been based on certain rules,
But in their hubris, the American heads of state had been played for fools.
The American economic system, had been based on military might,
But as nations dropped the dollar, the end was just in sight.

Low interest rates, soaring debt and the printing of their cash,
Had eroded American economic power, turned their empire into ash.
Internally their society is falling down as capitalism’s weaknesses shone through,
Where wealth resided not with the many, but only with the few.

This problem was not just, America domiciled,
In every single developed nation, their economies were compromised,
By the same types of toxic debt, each in turn were strangled
A banking system so corrupt, each economy was mangled.

Multinational intuitions’ running roughshod over nations,
Dictating to political leaders who should be far above their stations.
Sourcing their labour from poorer nations, destroying peoples wages,
Trapping national citizens in intangible debt cages.

In desperation, to maintain position, nations spend more than they earn,
Each monetary or fiscal policy tried sets their currency to burn.
Inflation stagnates as liquidity is captured by the wealthy elite,
And now in 2019, they face inevitable defeat.

Continued....

continued.....

The game is up; the governments are moving deck chairs on the titanic,
Antagonising their people with political lies and turning mood volcanic.
The last eighty years of our global economic system has brought us to this position,
War and pain, debt and doubt, an irreversible transition.


Part 3: The Future

War, Famine, Pestilence and death are known as the harbingers of doom,
Each are linked to each other, each will be here soon.
We are witnessing the end, all portents are dire,
And all great power’s machinations, are about to end in fire.

There is no escape, no silver lining, no way to escape what’s coming,
The world as we know it, has come to a close, Homo sapiens will be succumbing,
Whoever is best prepared for the end, those in a lucky location,
May see it out, outlive billions, and become known as the surviving generation.

The End.

Excellent. I came to that realization that we as humans reject progress. You said it all. Homo not sapiens.

a reply to: Warchief666

An Albatross

The mariner kills the bird of good omen
His shipmates cry against what he's done
But when the fog clears, they justify him
And make themselves a part of the crime.

— Iron Maiden - The Rime of the Ancient Mariner

originally posted by: InTheLight
Excellent. I came to that realization that we as humans reject progress. You said it all. Homo not sapiens.

Normal humans reject Progressivism.

Which really isn't any kind of "progress" for humanity.

Just progress towards a tyrannical State.

Which is not in the best interest of... humanity.

American Progressives, for instance, wrote and ensured the passing of the Federal Reserve Act.

By buying a President to sign it into law... Woodrow Wilson.

It's sad that politics came to Short Stories.

~sigh~