Midweek Musical Interlude - Re-Education (Through Labor) by Rise Against

If this song doesn't move you, nothing will.  Guaranteed rebellious fun.



Full lyrics here.

Though PB does not advocate violence, we must agree with the video's opening quotation:

Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable. ~John F. Kennedy

Ask yourself, in what sense is peaceful revolution possible in the US of today?  Can "change" be accomplished in the voting booth?

Each breath we take makes us thieves

Humans are a polluting scourge on the planet.  The very product of cellular respiration, our animating life-force, is harmful.  The population must be reduced.

Like causes without rebels
Just talk but promise nothing else

Turns the James Dean movie on its head.  The libertarian cause is worthy, but few if any have risen to lead the movement with meaningful action.  Talk is cheap.

We crawl on our knees for you
Under a sky no longer blue

Between federal, state, county, city, sales, and other miscellaneous taxes, half our blood, sweat, and tears is stolen from us.  Our rights to life and liberty are trampled upon, a joke to our masters.  The American Dream, apple pie and blue skies, is no more.

But we sow seeds to see us through
Though sometimes dreams just don't come true
We wait to reap what we are due

The diligent plan for the coming chaos and seek to minimize the plunder.  Despite the preparations, many still suffer.  Eventually the machinations will fail, the masses will wake, and the game will be over.

And the blare of the sirens combing the streets
Chased down like dogs we run from
Your grasp until the sun comes up

The US, and most developed nations, have become police states.  Perhaps the UK is furthest along towards the totalitarian nightmare.  Big Brother is a reality.

White needles buried in the red
The engine roars and then it gives
But never dies
'Cuz we don't live
We just survive
On the scraps that you throw away

Many are going all out, working two or more jobs to make ends meet.  Real incomes have plummeted.  We are weary, exhausted, but will never give up hope.  Our lives are not as they should be, could be, would be in a free society.  For now we eek out a livelihood with what we are allowed.

I won't crawl on my knees for you

The music slows in transition towards the song's climax, highlighting the lyrics which also shift gears.  Note the change in pronoun.  As Andrew Jackson said, "One man of courage makes a majority."  (Also noted in sidebar.)  Once we withdraw our consent, it's all over.

I won't believe the lies that hide the truth

We live in a world of government propaganda.  Conspiracy is reality.  False flag events are the routine.  The masses are manipulated.

'Cuz we are the rust upon your gears
We are the insects in your ears...
We crawl... all over you

If you're reading and watching this, you are the resistance.  We are far greater in number than our rulers.  We are the ants; they are the grasshoppers.

Our days are precious and so few
We all reap what we are due

Time is short.  In the end, the love you make is equal to the love you take.  Ill-gotten gains will be lost.  The immoral will suffer.

We bring a dawn long overdue

Mankind has endured centuries of violent control and abuse in the struggle for freedom.  Our efforts will not be in vain.