It’s Time for a Change
When things stop working, Just too much pain,
Can’t look in the mirror, It’s time for a change.
Behold your neighbor And an outstretched hand,
Or keep on pretending You don’t understand.
The rich too rich And the poor too poor.
Now they’ve got all the money, All they want is more.
One more addiction, Nothing to explain.
Who you think’s gonna listen? It’s time for a change.
INSTRUMENTAL
Your politicians All turning to clowns.
Watch ‘em dance for donations While they’re shaking you down.
Sacrifice our children For ill-gotten gain,
Talk a lot about freedom, Try and cover their shame.
Our sons and our daughters All over the land,
From Michigan’s waters To the Rio Grande
You can Feed your people Or the dogs of war.
Now it’s love or it’s money, And it’s either or.
INSTRUMENTAL
When things stop working, Just too much pain,
Can’t look in the mirror, It’s time for a change / It’s time for a change.
©Doug Hendren 2016
What’s it about? Most Americans don’t know just how far economic inequality has gone in the United States. We have the most extreme inequality in the industrial world. This short video shows the numbers: Wealth Inequality in America. For some telling numbers about 21st century America, see this short piece: The Real Terrorists: the .01%.
Such economic disparity leads to a very sick society. Everyone is worse off, even the wealthy. See this surprising TED talk by author Richard Wilkinson on how economic inequality harms societies.
We can no longer even claim to be a democracy. See this joint Princeton and Northwestern report: The US is not a democracy but an oligarchy, study concludes.
It has NOT always been this way! Not long ago, American wealth was widely shared among the people who produced it. Here are ten facts you may not know about the one percent.
The loss of democratic governance in the United States and descent into “corporatocracy” and extreme economic disparity has not happened by accident. Financial “meltdowns”, bank bailouts, homeless Americans and municipal bankruptcies are closely intertwined, patiently engineered through removal of policy safeguards that have served our nation well for a long time. Deregulation of the financial industry led directly to the 2008 global financial meltdown, from which we have never fully recovered. Deregulation of the media has now made it possible for all of mainstream television, radio and print media to be concentrated in the hands of just half a dozen giant corporations.
How do we reclaim our democracy? A good place to start is undoing the US Supreme Court’s infamous 2010 “Citizens United” decision, which has permitted corporate money to completely dominate our electoral political process. Corporations are not people, and money is not “speech”. If you agree, check out Move to Amend, Public Citizen and others who are committed to the long, difficult work of bringing about a constitutional amendment to eliminate this deeply entrenched evil from our society.
