The System Is Circular
A poem about corporations and their shareholders.
This morning while doom-scrolling LinkedIn I came across a post complaining about corporations and shareholders. I decided to respond with a poem.
-AM
The System Is Circular
What do you ask of your portfolio,
when you scan the charts,
refresh the feed,
watch the line rise—
or fall?
And when it doesn't deliver,
who do you blame?
The boardroom?
The CEO?
The machine that spins on margin and mandate?
We say "shareholders"
as if we’re not them—
as if our hands
aren’t clutching the very levers
we condemn.
Through IRAs and index funds,
through pensions and passive gains,
we are the pressure.
We are the growth demanded.
We are the system we critique.
Quarter after quarter,
the machine feeds
because we ask it to.
Because we expect it to.
The circle closes.
And here we are—
at both ends of the loop.