Pulling the Ladder

They sell you the path like the map still valid,
Same steps, same climb, whole thing lookin’ pallid.
“Just grind ten years, keep your head down, wait,”
They say from the balcony they locked behind a gate.

Lifting up ladders with piss-full bladders,
Drunk off security, scared of the scatter.
Pulled themselves up, now they yank it away,
Call it “paying dues” when it’s hoarding the way.

Preaching to the choir, suits pressed, mics hot,
Talking meritocracy like the flood won’t stop.
Sea levels rising, they still selling boats
That require a dock that no longer floats.

“Do what I did,” they chant, smug and serene,
Ignoring the part where the world intervened.
Cheap rent, stable jobs, ladders made of steel,
Now it’s gig work and vibes, hope wrapped in a reel.

They gatekeep wisdom they got from timing,
Cosplay prophets, futures misaligning.
Act like the system’s a moral test,
Not a roulette wheel wearing a self-help vest.

They lecture patience while sprinting for exits,
Stockpiling chairs when the music gets desperate.
Say “there’s room for everyone,” laugh through their teeth,
Counting headcount like calories underneath.

Every keynote a sermon, every tweet a decree,
“Just optimize mindset,” says the man born free.
He mistook luck for virtue, timing for skill,
Now he charging admission to the same uphill.

They don’t hate change, they hate losing rank,
That’s why every “lesson” smells like a prank.
Future on fire, they selling ash,
Calling it wisdom with a monetized past.

Boom bap truth, no nostalgia tax,
You can’t rerun the game with the old patch stacks.
Paths expire, ladders rot, tides don’t care who you are,
And the loudest careerists always preach from too far.

So save the roadmap, save the grind lore too,
We see the ladder’s gone and the water’s at you.
If you made it out clean, congrats, no hate,
Just stop pretending the door’s still open when you welded the gate.