Reincarnation of the Shagpoke Whipple

Political winds are blowing from the past
Conjuring images of a ghastly caste
A ghastly caste led by the Shagpoke Whipple
Trampling on the rights of decent people.

Long ago, as today, capital was ill-reputed and bankrupt,
People were demanding accountability and workers their rights;
Governments were ran by bankers and corporate cabal
Then, the rulers unleashed the wild dogs of capital.

Shagpoke clung to a mythical story
That he was anointed to save nation’s glory
“There are devils among us,” he said, by the way
And they must be purged out of our way.

Masters of the world, owners of the holy fire,
Promised a divine light that world would desire
Instead, they burned the world to establish their rule
The nature of the power is to be cruel.

Shagpoke didn’t value much for democracy,
It was a mob-rule, he never wanted to see
His anthem was, “There are wars we must fight
To show others our supreme might.”

Patriots of capital were its shock troops,
Amassed in America and nations of Europe
Shagpoke welcomed all to the promised kingdom,
When he heralded his gift of freedom:
Freedom to accumulate wealth by any means;
Freedom to subjugate others and demean;
Freedom to propagate inequality,
For which, the price paid was liberty.
And freedom to defend privilege,
Which has been the story of our age.

Now, the masters are again in despair
Once again, shock troops are brought in to scare
Demagogues and buffoons become prophets
So, they can guard the masters’ profits.

With bombastic negation of the facts,
Shagpoke’s megalomaniacal character is intact
Jutting his chin and contorting his face,
While making IL Doce-like phrase.

“Dog eat dog,” is a grotesque tumor,
Instilled by “rags to riches” allure;
Promoted by purveyors of corporate slavery;
Hailed by patriots of the Manifest Destiny;
Supported by a culture of gore and glory,
And this has brought ages of human misery.

Corrupt political systems, not accountable to the public,
Give birth to criminal clowns who create havoc
Shagpokes are not created in heaven or hell,
Ask Germans about their guilt and they will tell.

Justice, equality, integrity and peace,
Are not propositions that one can be remiss
So grand are their meaning and their legacy
That many have defended them with their life and liberty.

*Shagpoke Whipple is one of the characters of the novel, “A Cool Million,” written by Nathanael West, a celebrated American author and a social critic in 1934. The story is a parody of the Horatio Alger myth of the “rags to riches.”

Shagpoke, a corrupt banker, becomes the President of U.S. After the time of his presidency, he opens a new bank, cheats on the account holders and ends up in jail. In jail he befriends, Lem Pitkin, a young boy from his neighborhood and teaches him about opportunities of becoming a millionaire in America. In the process of getting to become a millionaire, the young lad loses his eye, limbs and eventually his life in pursuit of a this dream. Shagpoke forms his political party, the “National Revolutionary Party,” a fascist party, which proclaims Lem Pitkin as its first martyr.