9.6 Politics

by Eric Chaet

Is the one with the most assets & cash the most successful?
Or the one who controls the most territory, troops, & firepower?
Or maybe the leader of the prevailing coalition —
grudgingly supported by the parties’ other contenders?

Or the one who has gained the most since starting —
whether starting with a lot, a little, nothing
or inherited debt, obligations —
despised, persecuted, used —
by parents, siblings, neighbors, & microbes
or by genes, mates, posers, off-spring, local tyrants —
by current oppressors or effects of past oppressions —
by legislation & agents of government
or of giant corporations funded by government contracts
& the long-time habits of shoppers —
programmed to be others’ factotum or whore —
who manages not to be obliterated
day after day & year after year —
childhood, adolescence, maturity, old age —
alien where born among contending competitors —
no property, troops, firepower, money, credit
or useful connections — or understanding
of the roles thrust into by birth
in such a species, body, place, & time?

Or is the most successful the one who contributes most?
The most of what? to whom?
The poor, or the affluent & dominating ones or group?
The deserving, the undeserving?
Who deserves what, why?
Who gets what they deserve, who doesn’t?
Do you get what you earn?

Entrepreneurs, managers, producers, marketers, distributors
provide what they provide — for a price.
Public officials, & kind relatives & neighbors
& managers of the assets of giant philanthropies
dole out benefits —
but the price is time & attention to what they require
whether officially or even unaware
that could be spent healing from brief or long
attacks of anxiety, or setbacks —
or put to use versus inertia, developing capacities
or initiating & sustaining projects & campaigns —
all the while maintaining what you need
to survive the current set of impositions.

In China, the USA, west & east Europe, & elsewhere, too
governments, whether of one party, many, or two
extract resources, in various amounts, from citizens
& bestow benefits to those with various needs & wants
willing & able to comply with regulations
they resent — or administer.
I’m talking about right now, & I’m talking about all history.

History is piecemeal & unreliable —
what preceded history, even more so —
& the future, in which we must risk everything, the most.

I’m talking about lions & their prey
the species & specimens surviving so far
& those gone, of which we never were aware —
animals, plants, fungi, bacteria, viruses
financiers, bankers, producers, marketers, consumers.

I’m talking about what you really need
& what you’d prefer, to not having it —
that which may delight or disappoint you
that which may liberate & empower you
& that which may weaken & defeat you.

I’m talking about what is advertised —
costly campaigns engaging the attention
of dozens & hundreds & thousands at consoles —
& what is learned by word of mouth — or study —
or what one single person finally concludes —
whether foolishly or shrewd — or maybe wise, I hope.

I’m talking about what’s ephemeral & what lasts
beyond a mood, or even a life-time, or a polity
or a set of beliefs & behaviors.

The bacteria that multiply like crazy in someone’s lungs —
then die with their victim — are they successful? —
the ones that proliferated, or the last cohort — or none?
Is their frenetic metabolism as pointless
as some lifeless galaxy that forms
then, after some enormous while, dissipates?
Or do galaxies compete for power among galaxies —
or to achieve life & consciousness, however temporary?

What is the meaning of the irresistible desire for meaning?
What is the meaning of the struggle to survive?
No one survives, that I know of —
tho some have spoken or written of immortality —
but they’re deluded, I think
or speaking of some idea or infrastructure we may create
whether something good, true, noble — or otherwise —
that doesn’t decay & dissipate with our carcasses —
or some speck, migrating thru us, we never control
& rarely manage to capture attention to invest in.

What is the meaning of the struggle for supremacy?
Or, briefly, experiencing supremacy?
Or of the feeling of being defeated
yet realizing you’re still alive —
& you drag yourself out of disturbing dreams
or embrace the day as opportunity for reason
& focused, strategic action — if you can achieve it.

Anyone who takes me for a successful person is deluded.

Until almost this moment, I was striving to be a success —
to gain a lot of what I desired —
even to gain more assets & power
than those who were trying to take advantage of me —
even before I was aware that they existed —
or how they calculated what they do.

If I don’t compete, I’ll be others’ meat — that’s clear.
But you can have most of what we’re taught to struggle for.
If you get it, I won’t think you’ve succeeded —
even if, for some brief time, you rule.
But what about me? — what shall I do? & why?

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