More at Risk

A blitz poem about the corporate ethos of working harder.

Work harder
Work more
More hours
More productivity
Productivity for corporate profits
Productivity for shareholder valuation
Valuation of the bottom line above all else
Valuation of only the outputs
Output quantity > quality
Output prioritized above people
People who are being used up
People who are being overworked
Overworked by an uncaring and overpaid C-suite
Overworked by an unchecked capitalist system
System-wide problems with employee morale
System-atic and unrealistic demands
Demands on workers’ time and energy
Demands that the Corporation always come first
First before your family
First before your free time
Time is controlled by the Corporation
Time off is encouraged but never actually given
Given to anyone who toils away in the cubicle trenches
Given freely to executives who don’t to anything
Anything to keep the plebs in line
Anything to nudge that stock price up
Up in time for the quarterly earnings call
Up in time for the big wigs to vest their shares
Shares that aren’t shared with the rank and file
Shares that only exacerbate income inequality
Inequality that gets more pronounced every year
Inequality that’s rotting our country from the inside out
Out of step with the rest of the world
Out of step with the rest of humanity
Humanity desperately needs a new paradigm
Humanity can’t take much more of the “work harder” mandate
Mandate people living their lives instead
Mandate people take care of themselves and others
Others need to feel like more than just a number on a balance sheet
Others need to be given basic human dignity
Dignity to exist for a greater purpose than the numbers on a P&L statement
Dignity of a life valued for more than what it can add to a spreadsheet in Excel
Excel at investing in people instead of processes
Excel at seeing one another’s inherent worth
Worth isn’t just a dollar amount at the bottom of an accountants’ screen
Worth should be infinite when human dignity is at risk
Risk the future on giving people their freedom
Risk the Corporation on working smarter not more
More
Freedom


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50 lines / 344 words

Form: Blitz  

Written for: "Rebel Poetry Contest" 

Prompt: