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Who owns this ‘country’?

A caricature ofJeff Bezos

Jeffrey Preston Bezos, aka Jeff Bezos, is the founder and CEO of the multi-national technology company Amazon. This caricature of Jeff Bezos was adapted from a Creative Commons licensed photo from Seattle City Council's Flickr photostream. By DonkeyHotey - Jeff Bezos - Caricature, CC BY 2.0, Link.

The rich have spoiled almost
everything. They have driven
residents from any hamlet
by the sea, gentrified

cozy neighborhoods, some
historical. High rises, boutiques
replace funky local eateries,
markets with ethnic foods.

They make money off bad air
that chokes, darkens skies.
They make money sending
jobs to sweatshops overseas.

They raise rents higher, higher
till most people have to leave
cities, neighborhoods they
grew up in, knew neighbors.

They buy hospitals and turn
a profit. No insurance? Out
you go. Do you need a pill
required to save your life?

Big Pharma didn’t grow huge
keeping drugs affordable.
They love AI—never complains.
No unions, pensions, benefits.

If you don’t have the wealth
this is no longer your country.
They buy politicians, elections
own media and in fact, you.

Marge Piercy is the author of twenty books of poetry, most recently On the Way Out, Turn Off the Light, plus seventeen novels, a memoir, a short story collection, and five nonfiction books.
2024, Volume 75, Number 11 (April 2024)
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