To Scrooge or Not to Scrooge

Scrooge: a miserly, selfish old git

A miserable, uptight twit

Who works away all his time and yours, too

And looks down upon both me and you

Nobody’s role model, surely

He’s no one’s hero—or is he?

* * *

Look at where we give power away

The wealthiest of our day:

The Bezos, the Musks, the Trumps—

You’d think it’s all a flaming dump

Filled with nothing but our least favorite miser

After all these years, shouldn’t we be wiser?

Shouldn’t we know where to put our wealth—

For our future, our sanity, our health?

* * *

But the Scrooges take the lead once more

Is it just what they have been born for?

Or is it a cycle that we have been stuck in

Something that we let happen again and again

Through flawed elections and trickle-down systems

Thinking that surely this time we will fix ‘em!

When deep down we know that won’t be the case

We’re just too lazy and then, in our haste,

We go with what’s tried and true

And then blame each other when nothing’s new

* * *

Or perhaps we think, like the character of old,

They’ll have a change of heart, a tale to be told

And we’ll suddenly all get a slice of the pie

One without that metaphorical fly

To ruin our enjoyment of it

With its strings attached and other such bullshit

But we’re not living in a Christmas Carol

This is no one’s real-life fairy tale

Ghosts do not appear to rich men overnight

To make them change their ways with a fright

Humans may change, but it’s not quickly enough

And until then, things are going to be tough

With real Scrooges at the helm

Ruling every aspect of the realm

* * *

So when next there is an election session,

To Scrooge or not to Scrooge, that is the question