Peder Severin Kroyer, Norwegian
Annual Meeting of the Society For the Construction of Larger Conference Tables, 1888
Oil on canvas
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Info, or perhaps links that point to more info, about this artist can be found here, here (archived if necessary), here, here, here (archived if necessary), here, here (can be read in full for free on Fridays), here, here, here, and here, perhaps in addition to what’s in his Wikipedia page (Google translated Danish Wikipedia page has more).
/// Oslo businessmen caught unawares
in their quest to become billionaires.
For big deals to enable,
they need seats at the table.
(Seats determined by musical chairs.)
/// To huge contracts they write secret riders,
which hike profits to chosen providers.
Kick-backed wealth comes cascading
to those few who do trading
with the intel known just to insiders.
/// Those who don’t make the cut understood
that, to keep these things secret, they should.
A wise man emigrates
to the United States;
(he’s from one of the countries that’s “good.”)
/// Each great “Captain of Industry” rules
over “lesser” men, thought of as fools.
Poor folks might see their flaws,
but they’re shielded by laws
that were written by toadying tools.
/// Of “the Universe” they may be “Master,”
but their gains have a cost in disaster.
Profiteers will adore
hate, pollution and war,
for their loot will accumulate faster.
/// Every action they’ve taken implies
that no morals adhere to these guys.
They’ve no concept of “sinner”
and believe that the winner
is the one with most dough when he dies.
/// To this meeting they had to be going,
though the small room was soon overflowing.
Every tycoon in Norway
pushed his way through the doorway
to learn which crooked schemes were worth knowing.
/// Those with seats received tips on “investing.”
(Most had rivals they longed to be besting.)
Politicians one backs
can decrease business tax,
and the army can quash all protesting.
/// In the end, all attending agreed
to steal only ten times what they’d need.
Honest people would bleed
so that they could succeed.
Then each stole even more out of greed.