Eugenics by Any Other Name

If we didn't know it for sure yet,
now it's etched in stone: the beginning
of the end is upon us. First of all,
we're only minutes away from folks
having their credit card numbers
embedded in their skin to speed up
the check-out process. More importantly,
the japanese have allowed into being
a system whereby families deemed to be
"brainy" will get lower rates, on loans,
mortgages, credit cards, especially
those employed in so-called "high value"
areas like law, medicine...and accounting!
I didn't think all that much either way
about the program until I saw that one
ugly word, "accountant." It appears
the bean-counters have a strangle hold
even on the intelligentsia in that most
prosperous of all nations. If accountants
are thought to be brainy enough off
the cuff for discounts on life insurance
and mortgages, well, then that would
mean that the likes of a poet doesn't
amount to even the smallest iota of
value in their "high-value" sham
world. If sculptors have less of a right
to help with a loan than the peons
responsible for the shuffling of money
that leads to said loans in the first place,
what will the future be like for our
children? If a playwright can't get
any help avoiding a bankruptcy just
because he's not thought to be "brainy"
enough, where in God's name are all
the actors supposed to go? And if
hospital care is cheaper for those who
balance books, aren't we finally
beginning to sanction Eugenics?
The genetic weeding out of
undesirable traits, like, say, being an
artist, has already begun.

(2007)