Every week
The New Yorker has a humor column entitled "Shouts & Murmurs." To be honest with you, lots of times I just skip it because, as I have mentioned before, my reading burden in heavy, if not back-breaking. This week though I was caught by the title of the piece by
John Kenney,
"We Are the One Percent." It begins "We, too, have mobilized," and continues in the voice of a fat cat. I have to tell you, it's been a while since I read such brilliant satire. Here are a couple of samples, but I commend the piece to you for full appreciation.
We're angry. We're angry at something we're calling "imagined frustration." By this we mean that, except for Congress, the White House, banks, major lobbyists, and the editorial boards of Fox News and the Wall Street Journal, no one is listening to us. And we're tired of it.
And more:
Here is our manifesto, still very much a work in progress, as it's cocktail hour and several of our protesters are out at the pool:
- All wealth should be shared equally among the wealthy.
- Eradicate poverty. (Note: Maybe a clearer way to say this would be "Eradicate the poor." Need to discuss.)
- End business as usual. (Note: several members like the sound of this, but they don't know what it means. A suggestion has been made to add the word "hours" after "business.")
- Implement a rule whereby the public cannot look at us and must keep a distance of at least twenty feet at all times.
And so on. Like all effective satire, this bites enough to be felt, but not to break the skin. Great stuff.
1 comment:
It promises to be an excellent read.
Post a Comment