Masters of War

Back during the Cold War,the people of the West feared nuclear annihilation. These days they worry about the coming loss of affluence and the need to share power with East. Very soon now the powerful and the establishment in the West will arrive at a solution. War. An industry they still dominate. Sooner then we think we might stop talking about the greedy bankers and financial skullduggery and get our focus back on those who really pull the strings. The Masters of War.
To get a get a sample of what you will feel then, pull out this Bob Dylan classic song titiled Masters of War (Bob Dylan, I think, is the poet that eternity will record as the chronicler of hi age even while transceding it)from the Cold War days when the memory of the World Wars still had bite, and give it a spin:

Come you masters of war
You that build the big guns
You that build the death planes
You that build all the bombs
You that hide behind walls
You that hide behind desks
I just want you to know
I can see through your masks.

You that never done nothin'
But build to destroy
You play with my world
Like it's your little toy
You put a gun in my hand
And you hide from my eyes
And you turn and run farther
When the fast bullets fly.

Like Judas of old
You lie and deceive
A world war can be won
You want me to believe
But I see through your eyes
And I see through your brain
Like I see through the water
That runs down my drain.

You fasten all the triggers
For the others to fire
Then you set back and watch
When the death count gets higher
You hide in your mansion'
As young people's blood
Flows out of their bodies
And is buried in the mud.

You've thrown the worst fear
That can ever be hurled
Fear to bring children
Into the world
For threatening my baby
Unborn and unnamed
You ain't worth the blood
That runs in your veins.

How much do I know
To talk out of turn
You might say that I'm young
You might say I'm unlearned
But there's one thing I know
Though I'm younger than you
That even Jesus would never
Forgive what you do.

Let me ask you one question
Is your money that good
Will it buy you forgiveness
Do you think that it could
I think you will find
When your death takes its toll
All the money you made
Will never buy back your soul.

And I hope that you die
And your death'll come soon
I will follow your casket
In the pale afternoon
And I'll watch while you're lowered
Down to your deathbed
And I'll stand over your grave
'Til I'm sure that you're dead.

Ten Commandments for the Corrupt and the Crooked

1. Thou shall deny meritocracy with every fiber of your being, so that when the time comes to picking the fall guys from among your juniors, every poor sod seems equally deserving
2. Thou shall hate art, music and culture while loudly professing your passion for them. Because if you start really enjoying stuff that does not cost much what will you do with all the millions you are going to stash away? You can’t risk the fading of your amazing appetite for money, can you? At the same time remember the culture scene, the art market and show business are full of your kind and so you must pretend conviviality
3. Thou shall not stint on buying your children a business degree or two from abroad. Helps in creating front companies. And hopefully the nincompoops will learn a thing or two besides finding boring, wasteful ways of spending your ill-gotten wealth
4. Thou shall pretend to be pious. Besides being good for the image among the gullible, religious institutions and seers are, 9 out of 10 times, good and reliable partners for people like you. Moreover there is no evidence yet that God, if he exists, cannot be fooled
5. If you made the mistake of getting a good education thou shall strive to wash away its debilitating effects by dipping into every pool of inequity, crudeness and lasciviousness that you can find. This of course does not mean that you cannot preen at all the alumni gatherings that you can get to in your latest SUV. If you haven’t got an education, congratulations on your good sense. And remember that you can always get a honorary doctorate or two for a quid or a quid pro quo
6. Thou shall kiss-arse the rich and the powerful as often as you can and to compensate for the consequent hurt to your ego, kick-arse every one dependent on you, as often as you can
7. Thou shall banish love and passion (because they are the enemy of greed) from your life and make do with lust and emotional dependencies
8. Thou shall not worry about your inner ugliness showing because money can always buy cosmetic surgery, soft lighting, airbrushing, arm candy and fawning hanger-ons
9. Thou shall cultivate a high-order of stinginess when it comes to charity or spending on others because you know nobody, except perhaps your mother, really loves you, so why should you care?
10. You shall steal the tenth commandment because you are the quintessential 10% guy, aren't you?