Money

[ALANM]

MONEY
(By Alan McCosker December 2019 revised March 2020)

Money’s not the first thing that concerns the human race
but whatever comes in second, is yet to join the race
the gathering of wealth, is what makes the world go ‘round
but did not the world go ‘round before the cash cow came to town

Simple barter used to be the way you could use to fill your larder
with anything you could not catch, pluck from a tree or gather
some were better at it and thus ended with a surplus
but what to do with such a thing, would leave a caveman nonplussed

Then came a man who worked it out, he gathered all the surplus
and in barter gave out metal, which lay for taking on the surface
that metal came in handy, made cool tools for multipurpose
made spears and swords so one could take for free, another’s surplus

He hawked his new found surplus around his fellow cavemen
and made a massive profit, the first financial exploitation
a bearskin cost two mammoth tusks, buy one get one free
and this catch-cry still in use today, just seems illogical to me

And from this crude beginning grew the world’s financial markets
that control our lives and make decisions, that empty out our pockets
it’s a hackneyed quote to say the rich get richer, poor get screwed
but in this money focused world, human values are all slewed

Hard labour will not make you rich, tho’ keeps the wolf out from the door
you need to use your head, invest, to make your surplus grow much more
go and see a money man who’ll turn your surplus to a fortune
unless of course you’re left with nought, once you’ve spun the wheel of fortune

The financial world’s a T.A.B, where the money men place their bets
with other peoples money, which inside traders pounce and get
a president with half a brain moves the market with a tweet
and devaluates your super, two or three times every week

Everybody’s got their hand out, everybody wants their share
of your paltry bloody wages, they all dip in without a care
to have three levels governing for just over twenty million
seems to me like overkill and must cost a million trillion

With just a few exceptions, in most retail occupations
there is little money, unless you have for sale, essentials
the sale of petrol is a beauty right along with e-lectrickery
charge what you like, user pays, and causes wallet misery

Supply and demand, so they say, is the driver of economy
the demand for health allows practitioners, to rake in wads of money
just like the legal profession, there’s no limit on remuneration
they charge what they like, user pays, there’s not any regulation

People who are wealthy and now in the top tax bracket
look down on we poor working fools, who never learnt to work the racket
the money system they’ve invented is so bloody complicated
you have to pay a money man, to show you how it’s navigated

I’ve heard it said don’t whinge and moan, everybody has the same chance
to work hard in the money game, learn to build and grow your finance
but if all of us were money men, who’d be left to kick the shit
someone has to earn a wage, so the money men can grow (blow) it

In times of great upheaval, like world war and world pandemic
the money men all play the game, with dedication that's fanatic
sell, sell, sell they all will chorus, we're heading for disaster
once the price is driven down, they buy back even faster

Is money the root of evil, well that’s up to you to say
you cannot live without it, someone always has to pay
a man without it oft’ is one who works hard every day
but if loaded up with cash, he becomes an a’hole all the way

I guess there’s no solution, so I’ve come to this conclusion
you cannot take it with you, so spend it all on the illusion
that you’ve made the world a better place, by accumulating wealth
‘cause if you don’t the money men, will take it all from you by stealth

[Maureen K Clifford]

Pleased to say that the barter system still works very well in country areas, where cash is short due to the drought. We bartered all the time when out on the property during the last drought - everyone did, and it worked really well. All our cash was going on stock feed, but we could barter time for some beef, swap eggs for stone fruit, cart some fodder on our truck for some help during mustering and shearing. No one went hungry, nobody was without help when needed and we made some good friends along the way.

[Shelley Hansen]

Certainly can't take it with you! We strive for it, spend it, whinge about it ... but it's sad that it takes some people so long to realise what US billionaire JP Getty once said, "Money has no connection with happiness. Maybe with unhappiness!"