When I was younger corrupt public servants

were always some sort of foreign Johnny –

like the chief of police in ‘Casablanca’ –

and events like Covid-19 the result

of utterly unique and totally

unforeseen circumstances not neglect,

incompetence or insouciance,

much less deliberate mayhem.

 

Now the malfeasance is in plain sight.

The crooks in all but name – public school boys

and their acolytes of all classes

and genders, the useful idiots,

the ready sycophants, the gong-chasers,

the jacks-in-office, and their main stream

media apologists and enablers –

are the same entitled class that purloined

the so-called Elgin Marbles, and had away

with the Benin Bronzes, and murdered

Iraqi Kurds and Kenyan Kikuyu.

 

Now that, for the masters and the mistresses

of the universe, self-righteousness

is justification enough for greed

and thievery, and self-interest

and the public good are one – unless

you are in receipt of so-called benefits

obviously. So those who, consequently,

die or are maimed are always undeserving

and dispensable. Thus, by default,

Aristotle’s Great Chain of Being

appears not only intact but well-oiled,

the concept of choice of the Establishment –

that exclusive sui generis elite.