The State-Lottery

(album: Less Talk, More Rock - 1996)

Now, the real prospects for authentic democracy depend on something else. They depend on how the people in the rich and priveliged societies learn some other lessons. For example, the lessons that are being taught right now by Mayans in Chiapas, Mexico. They are among the most impoverished and oppressed sectors in the continent. But, unlike us, they retain a vibrant tradition of liberty and democracy. A tradition that we've allowed to slip out of our hands or has been stolen from us. And unless people here in the rich and privileged society, unless they can recapture and revitalize that tradition, the prospects for democracy are indeed dim.

Does it seem strange to you?
The confetti, the balloons, the mile-wide grins?
The victory dance to welcome in the heir to a state of disrepair?
'Cause it sure seems strange to me.
They're acting like they won the lottery.
But shouldn't they feel terror at the task that lies ahead?
To feed and house the people that this system's left for dead.
And could I have hit the nail much harder on the head?
It's profits before lives. They are motivated by greed.
First they taught us to depend on their nation states to mend
Our tired minds, our broken bones, our bleeding limbs.
But now they've sold off all the splints and contracted out the tourniquets.
And if we jump through hoops, then we might just survive.
Is this what we deserve?
To scrub the palace floors?
To fight amongst ourselves,
As we scramble for the crumbs they spit out?
Frothing at the mouth about the scapegoats that they've chosen for us.
With every racist pointed finger, I hear the goose steps getting closer.
They no longer represent us. Is it not our obligation
To confront this tyranny?