Mammon

The great god Mammon has shrines all round the globe;
his worship spans the hhistory of man;
while most religions' fortunes ebbed and flowed,
his primacy's endured since time began.

As greed served evolution's strategy
and money eased accumulating wealth,
so favoured men by legal larceny,
conquest, subterfuge or cunning stealth

enriched themselves beyond all normal needs
and wasted scarce resources without shame,
creating envy in the other creeds
for decadent luxury and foolish fame.

Then wealth became the aim of simple minds,
a dream to solve life's problems in a flash
of rich relations' wills or various kinds
of  windfall, property or lottery cash.

More sober souls could build life-long careers
on steady increase of portfolios,
a bigger house or better car in years
to come without risking imbroglios.

For women Mammon is a household god
with furnishings and white goods in his praise,
his holy book a big store catalogue
accompanying prayers prosperity stays.

While every new possession adds some spice
to lives that need the interest that comes
from something new, and shopping's no great vice,
and no-one really wants to live in slums,

too much devotion to the Mammon cause
can badly warp our personalities;
cupidity is not the worst of flaws
but magnifies our other frailities.

Thus blinkered eyes of envy only see
the rich, ignoring those less fortunate,
encouraging selfishness and snobbery,
refusing help to the inadequate.

Instead of  'Love thy neighbour' Mammon's flock
believe that 'Charity begins at home',
so comfortably avoiding any shock
responsibility where they don't roam.

"We can be friends with anyone." they say,
"We have no prejudices, that we know.
We don't let creed or colour bar the way
to anybody's progress; let them go

their own way, we'll go ours and then no doubt
we all can prosper. Oh, and by the way,
just pull the ladder up on your way out."
("You know it's only sensible." they say.)

Of course we all want to improve our lot
and give our children what we never had
but does the need for what we haven't got
obscure the fact indulgence can be bad

for them as well as us: obesity
signals excessive cash but bankrupt wills,
and unathletic minds zapped by TV
think life should be a constant stream of thrills;

or, failing to distinguish real from fake,
we search for meaning in the shopping mall
and fuss about the icing on the cake
when many people don't have cake at all.

How little does the latest fashion count
compared to widespread third world poverty
and all the problems others can't surmount
unless we curb our selfish vanity?

How dare we hanker after some new toy
or windowshop for something nice to buy
when somewhere parents, whom our whims destroy,
for lack of medicine, watch their children die?

No doubt our primate ancestry explains
our need for status and respect from peers
but if a whole economy ingrains
just selfishness, it surely causes fears

for that society's continuance.
Could Mammon's blessings undermine their cause
since wealth and luxury breed decadence
and hasten terrorism and new wars?

Still we enjoy our wealth without complaints,
believing everything is fairly priced
and trust in Mammon's pantheon of saints
where Father Christmas outranks Jesus Christ.