Third Populist Manifesto
The sons of another
Whitman awake
Retake the word
Retake the song
There is no time now
for sleeping till noon
in your shuttered rooms
There is no time now
as New York crumbles
beneath our feet
under the trampling
of a nation of sheep
as Kabul is wiped
off the map
as the Palestinian
follows in the footsteps
of the Native American
gone with the echoes
of a thousand mother’s cries
everyone asking “Why?”
Not for freedom
Not for democracy
But for a new kingdom
ruled by philanthropy
Yes, blood is thicker
than water
but not as thick
as oil
How many must still
be killed
to keep the drills
alive
Where are the new Ginsbergs
the new Dylans
the voices of a new generation
with their cut-up jeans
and back packs
Where are all the great
minds of today
Still roaming their
dark alleyways?
Yes, Ferlinghetti is still alive
but so too is Berlusconi
The usurper is still
in the House
And all the voices
remain silent
How many Kyotos
must be rejected
How many Johannesburgs
over-ruled by a party of one
How many rulers selected
and promises broken
before we stand up
and speak out
and take back
what should be ours
guaranteed by birth
Whitman’s wild children
are all alive and well
So put down your glasses
and pick up your pens
Get on your buses
all going “Further”
And let your voices
be heard.
Eat Your Fill of Gold
Rolling through the past,
into the future.
Those who do not read history,
are bound to repeat it.
Those who do not learn from their mistakes,
are bound to suffer,
rolling into the future.
A locomotive out of control.
Armageddon comes not too soon
for the computer age.
HURRY UP - FASTER
GET TO THE END.
The end is closer than you think.
Civilizations lost in the eye of a blink.
Dinosaur men standing on the brink,
stampeding towards extinction.
Never once did Midas
consider the consequences.
Eat your fill of gold.
Your greedy lies.
Blind your eyes.
The womb is dead.
What good is a fortune
to the stillborn,
to a lifeless head,
to America,
owned by foreign investors.
Foreclosed.
Sold to the highest bidder.
Your dreams are now
made in China.
Junk bonds.
Junk food.
Junk life.
L a n d f i l l.
That is what you are,
what you have become.
Fear has consumed you
and left you with nothing.
Fear has killed you.
Fear has.
Fear.
Afraid to live.
Afraid to die.
Eat your paper gold.
EAT - EAT - EAT
your worthless fill.
CONSUME
EAT
EAT
SHIT
DIE
BUY NOW BUY
EAT
CONSUME
DIE
SHIT
Is that all?
Is that the best you've got?
A pile of shit
in your greedy hand.
BUY - BUY - BUY
SHIT
BUY - SHIT - NOW
EAT
CONSUME
DIE
Rethinking Security
Us and them.
Us and them.
How many slogans
does it take to change
a light-bulb?
Click in your head.
Calling all giants:
It's time to wake up.
No, you can't hit the snooze alarm
for another five minutes
... because
... because you've been doing that
for eight years now.
That's why.
... don't give me that shit,
you're doing your part.
Changing the government
takes more than voting.
You've gotta be active.
Get involved.
Care.
That's the main thing,
you've gotta care.
... oh, you don't
Well ...
Let me phrase it this way:
Renewable energy is
homeland security.
Fair trade
solves immigration.
Nuclear weapons
define insanity.
And how about
Free Healthcare
for the entire nation
... the world as a whole,
for every last one of us
and not just for
the rich fuck up on the hill.
While we're at it
Affordable Housing
reduces crime
It's a no brainer.
People before profits.
How many times did you bail
the bankers out?
They got the butter,
the money of the butter
and the milkman's daughter on top.
What did I get?
I got to lose my house
to these greedy bastards
who engineered a meltdown.
Where's an independent
congressional investigation
when we need one?
And dear Mr. President,
when are you going to
show some balls
and do what you were elected to do?
Namely standing up to the bullies
and standing up for us
we deserve nothing less
we put you where you are today
you asked for the job
you said you could handle it
well, then you better start
leading it
leading us home out of war
leading us to
SINGLE PAYER UNIVERSAL HEALTHCARE
If France and England
and Cuba
can treat all their people free
so can we.
I don't want to step out of this urinal
just holding hope in my hands.
The strength of a nation
rests in the weakest link
on the face of homelessness
on the link of fear
on the chain of hate
in the jail of ignorance.
Set the people free.
Oh, set we the people free.
Freedom is
a lot of hard work and organizing
and it's worth every
drop of sweat and tears.
When you can taste freedom,
dripping juice from you mouth,
when it thumps in your heart
a sledgehammer
against the castle doors
and lifts you up
off of your couch
in front of Oprah
and sets you down in the streets
at your congressman's door
on his phone
at: 1-800-427-8619
That number again:
1-800-427-8619
That's right,
you too can
CONTACT YOUR CONGRESSMAN
YOUR SENATOR
for FREE at:
1-800-427-8619
And politely chew them a new one
for not standing up for you,
for me, for any of us.
Just pigs at a troth.
We were a lot safer
before all the lies
for an endless war.
We are all the innocent civilians
and collateral damage
no matter what side of the line you're on.
We're the ones who keep
getting killed
the ones who get our limbs
blown off.
Soldiers and their victims
are all led to slaughter
while politicians
and bankers
take all the spoils
in bloody fucking
oils.
Didn't you know that
the earth was waterbased?
It melts when you add fire.
Peace is no longer just
Patriotic,
it's vital to
our National Security,
to our entire planet.
Now.
Now.
Now.
I want peace,
Now.
Now.
Now.
Imposing Democracy
When
you have to
Terrify
your own
People
into giving
Their
freedoms away,
We say
it’s
Guaranteeing
security.
When
you invade
Another
country
To
steal their wealth
And
establish your own regime,
We
call it
Setting
people free.
When
you bomb
A tiny
village
While
all its people
Are
fast asleep,
That
is known as
Collateral
damage.
And
when you rob
From
the poor
To
subsidize
Your
rich friends’ wallets,
Well,
I’d say that’s graft,
But
maybe you’d call it
Paying
homage.
When
there are
Police
at every corner
No,
that’s not repression,
It’s
maintaining order.
When
all the news
Tells
you to follow
The
government line,
They
say that freedom
Of the
press is doing
Just
fine.
When
you’re not
Capable
of an
Independent
thought,
Then
you’ve received
A good
education.
And
when your health
Care
runs out,
That’s
just the benefits
Of
privatization.
When
we hide our
Sweat
shops in China
We say
that slavery
Is
abolished.
And
when your vote
Isn’t
even being counted,
There
are people who
Would
call that
Universal
suffrage
When a
baby is shot
By a
stray bullet
Maybe
it’s officially
An
accident,
But
just try telling that
To the
mother
And
when the ice caps are melted
And
the air is polluted,
No,
that has not a thing
To do
with your profits.
When
you say
We’re
at war,
I ask
you
When
haven’t we been?
That’s
their version
Of
peace without end.
Why is
it that
The
rules suddenly change
When
you’re on
The
wrong side
Of a
color?
And
while you’re at it,
Can
you explain to me
How life
in prison
Without
a trial
Could
ever be
“For
their own protection?”
And
when you get to choose,
Who
has the right to live,
Is
that what is meant by
“Having
God on your side?”
When
judges are allowed
To
hand out the jobs
Is
that thanks to having
Free and
open elections?
I
don’t know
What
you think
About
all this going on,
But if
that’s democracy
Then
something is
Very,
very wrong.
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