More ranting about the days of "reorganization" and all that. The title is a nod to Neil Young ("Keep on Rockin' in the Free World).

Downsizing in the (not so) Free World

Everybody's worried about their job
Will I be working next week,
If I don't pay my child support
My ex-wife will moan and shriek,
She'll threaten me with a lawsuit
And garnish my wages with glee,
But if I don't have a job
She can moan for eternity.

My friends are worried about security
Their seniority is shorter than mine,
Going home with a clear conscience
Is really the bottom line,
If they are laid off and I am not
We'll share some mutual pain,
Downsizing shrapnel everywhere
Leaving its bloody stain.

Reorganization is an industry fantasy
Destroying its structural strength,
Cutting the competitive edge of discovery
When the budgets are pared at great length,
The money that was in our wallets yesterday
Still circulates inside the machine,
Lining the HMO's pockets
They get fat, while we become lean.

The pendulum slows in its arc
Preparing to reverse its direction,
After cutting a swath of destruction
It's time for a little inspection,
The unusual pattern of injury
Tells a tale of dishonesty and greed,
As the downsizing moguls of mayhem
Return again and again to feed.

A workforce is like a foundation
Supporting the structural frame,
You can take it apart a block at a time
But it's a Russian Roulette kind of game,
Understanding the risk of mortality
While betting the odds of survival,
Nonetheless shocked when the bullet
Makes its untimely arrival.

Everyone’s worried about living
In the cost cutting days of Our Lord,
Insurance companies becoming much richer
While there is little, that we can afford,
What recourse is there, for the little guy
Struggling at the end of the hook,
Maybe it’s time for a revolution
Rewrite the current chapter of this book.

Fibril_late; 6/95