Compound Self Interest

 The folly of the rich is their wealth,
and the cult of wealth they create with it,
which becomes further folly
when trust in their wealth
becomes the wisdom for the ages.

I have known this in my past:
I have received help where help was temporary
and left no nearer being better off when it ended
whilst my helpers were more permanently enriching themselves
to the level where their self interest became compound selfishness.
Where however poor the helper made others, they never lost.

I don't know how poor the poor have to be to choose
to not fleece others and treat them like sheep,
or how poor I should be to write selflessly.
For as much such as I write what I hope that I lack
that sense of self that thrives on compound self interest.