Day after day, The Waltz of the Robber Baron continues. Subsidies are sacred while hellish fires burn, oil gushes into oceans, and great fracking earthquakes crack the walls. Noses are pressed against windows watching an enourmous man stuff his face and then hurl his bulk on one side of the scales of equality. Human capital is a casino chip, but humans aren't in the game - only their carefully constructed legal equivalents are.
For 9 years I've followed events on this site without posting a diary, always wanting to contribute, but never offering more to this incredible community than the occasional "me too" comment on someone else's marvelously written diary.
At last, like many on this site, the Occupy movement re-energized me and re-focused the discussion back on the crucial issue of economic disparity. Though I can't say that I've camped in the rain, or endured pepper spray and beatings, I can do what I do: Write songs, record them and perform them. When my equally re-energized musical partner suggested that we had some very fitting songs to offer this movement if only there were some place to offer it - I said, "Oh, I know just the place..."
So, in honor of the May Day marchers, the Ministry of Truth and the many, many other eloquent and dedicated "marching, charging, feet" of the 99% we'd like to offer this song:
The Waltz of the Robber Baron
About the song:
The main character begins as the physical embodiment of the infamous 19th century robber barons (i.e. J.P. Morgan, John D. Rockefeller) merged into one, but he continues to grow in power and size until he represents the colossal robber barons of today. Fed by the natural and human resources of our planet his girth expands until – like the Monty Python character “Mr. Creosote” - he is given one more thin mint of capital sustenance and explodes, leaving us as the maitre’d of the planet to clean up his gargantuan economy destroying, oily, radioactive mess. The end result of “greed is good” taken to its natural conclusion.
Granted,
The Waltz of the Robber Baron is probably not the kind of song to sing on the barricades. So, we'd like to offer another song that is more of an urgent call to action:
I Don't Wanna Wait
About the song:
We all know the problems: Basic human needs are not being met - "mouths still need feeding" - while a bitter ideology brings the wheels of social change to a grinding halt. The singer looks within himself first and finds frustration. Then, he looks to others around him - “I'm hoping you feel it too” - and calls out with impatience for his frustration to be an engine for action.