The greatest ever fantasy
Is Parliamentary democracy;
Whether in Zion, Orient or Thule,
Élites control and rule.
Legislative, Judiciary are token,
And even the Executive is broken
When oligarchy tires of its excess:
Many may rule, but few control the press.
Minor decisions may sometimes be lost,
But policies are never crossed;
Genuine democrats are always lonely:
Permissible opinions only.
Élites have ever been, will ever be,
For like the poor, they are society,
They never rise or fall,
They just exist in all.
The government may change
In thought and name,
Élites remain,
Contracting,
Expanding,
But essentially the same.
In politics: wars, truces don’t just happen,
The booms and great depressions don’t just happen;
Élites dictate the trend,
They make,
They break,
They bend.
Élites control,
And are controlled –
By Mammon.
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