Capitalist I

Aw, let 'em talk - they like to let off steam!

As if it were some new thing, the rule of the strong!

They can't do much - the system's pretty good,

Well built on the whole - it'll last our time and more.

Men have loved power, and got it when they could

Since the first cave-man left his monkeyish skull

There near Peking; and power will rule the world

Till the last human says good-bye and goes.

That's what they want, to rule our hot old planet

That's getting too big, too darn' complex, for any of us

To see the meaning of, or the reach, or the end

Of anything we plan or carry out

With the best intentions. When I was a boy,

Plowing our few poor acres, breaking the colts,

I had my dreams of doing a lot of good -

As if anyone could! Well, here I am,

Running a bank, running a thousand banks,

Whether they like it or not, steering the market

To send more millions where they ought to go,

Now money rules the world. I can't deny

It's good to feel that stallion under me,

Restive and violent, going I don't know where

Under my whip and rein. They'd like my place,

These reds who preach revolution - they want their turn.

It's human and natural - maybe they'll get it,

The few who have brains enough to use the others.

But I tell you, things are better than they were,

Even for those others, and they'll be better yet.

We have used the inventors, and their miracles

Are making a new scheme, bringing a revolution

Under our noses - we have to hump ourselves

To get the pace and keep the lead. Pretty soon,

When the machine has done its level best,

And things get shaken down a bit - you'll see -

The crowd will feel so flush with time and money

The reds will be the only ones out of a job.

Meantime I'm not afraid - we can sit tight.

It's a grand game, more exciting than a horse-race

To run the world today.