[Bernie Sanders]
But at the end of the day, what we are really talking about is whether or not this nation is going to become an oligarchic form of society. And what that means, what an oligarchic form of society is about, is you have a nation in which both the economics and politics of the nation are controlled by a handful of billionaire families, very very wealthy. And it doesn't matter what party is in power because the real power, economically and politically rests with a billionaire cla**. And Mr. President, it seems to me very clearly, that unless we act boldly to reverse that trend, we are seeing this country moving in exactly that direction
[Chorus]
At the top, it's just US, nations
But I don't really trust nations
Economics, it's just us, nations
Slaves at home and in your nation
Politics, yeah we just run you nations
At the top, where you see us, nations
Run sh** here and in your nation
We too legit, boy we been that nation
[Verse]
We all need money to live and reach greatness
But how on earth is money created?
It's fancy designs on pieces of paper
That we give meaning is not ordained it's
Backed by the force of a sovereign nation
Thru enforcement of taxation
Since the gold standard was laid to waste
Our fiat money by a central bank
Is all that gives our dollar basis
All debt is a tabulation
Stability is the foundation
Since the Fed prints money daily
And taxes aren't used for payments
Federal debt's not an obligation
In the sense of a budget statement
Of a household or a corporation
The only constraint's high inflation
Not a problem w unemployment raging
We're not Greece cuz they've forsaken
Currency control to Bankers
In the Troika so it's fallacious
To say that's our situation
Once we get this explanation
We can shake off debt enslavement
And invest in things to save us!
A job guarantee with a decent paycheck
Infrastructure, education
Housing, health care, single payer
Instead we hear misinformation
“Balance budgets or we'll perish!”
But who benefits and who is pained?
If you have cash that could decay then
You'd rather have no inflation
In contrast let's take the case of
One who lacks an occupation
Or suffers from deprivation
They'd rather have stimulation
Cuz they need the cash today and
In this way it's really plain that
Policy that seems mundane is
A political calculation
Where the richer people gain and
Poor and workers keep stagnating
Used to call it laissez-faire but
Trickle down's the modern name the
Funny thing it has no basis
Except it helps the very rich
Ironically they use the state to
Perpetuate their domination
The lies are backwards look cuz they
Redistribute to the top layer
We're the makers they're the takers
In the crash they took your savings
Trillions for bonus paychecks
Please believe there's cla** warfare it's
Plutocrats against the nation
Look at Powell's memo playa
The lie's even worse for developing nations
Taking loans from organizations
Like the IMF and World Bank bankers
With interest rates that are so outrageous
Inevitably they can't re-pay it
Creditors say that's fine we'll waive it
Long as you accept austerity changes
Structural adjustment of your behavior
Cut social programs, free up trading
Devaluation, Privatization
Of your oil fields and your cheap labor
That's how transnationals prevail they
Engineer their favored framework
Now we got worldwide enslavement
Otherwise known as Globalization
If countries don't obey those sanctions
Through bribery or fair persuasion
Then'll we'll step in and invade them
Or install friendly dictators
Iran, Iraq, and Latin Nations
Shock doctrined by Friedman agents
Sweetheart trade deals not transparent
Accept the game if you want to play it
Neoliberal fabrication
Hostile gospel sing it's praises
The free market's imagination
The market's neither free nor fair its
Oligopoly of corporate statists
Flaunting rules cuz can change them
Cuz the revolving door's awaiting
Between the regulated and the regulators
Politics can hardly change it
Since the years of Ronald Reagan
Both parties uphold the frame on
Economics they're both the same
What caused the change in party makeup
Was money inside our campaigning
Both parties bought by corporations
Don't believe me check the statements
Look who makes their top donations
Plus the Court said it's ok that
Businesses can vote w payments
If Corps are people then they're crazy
Only goal is profit-making
Endless life, no obligations
To the planet or their patrons
When they win the marketplace
They use their economic gains to
Hijack politics and make
Their own laws to prolong their reign
When dollars vote and choose the players
Democracy is a charade
And what we get is Corporate Statism
Loosening the regulations
Undo taxing at fair share but
Subsidize their operations
To keep paying poverty wages
But when economics is off the table
As an issue for debate then
We just tinker within the spaces
Lip service to groups who crave it
Who made today's stupid statement?
Red and blue in the horse race and
Culture wars will rule the day but
Social issues will never save us
Feeling good's not compensation
Bandages for wounds that's gaping
Keep us distracted or jaded
Zombies walking in the matrix
Perfect state for domination
All while the Titanic's tanking
50 years of stagnant wages
Poverty and climate change
Financial crashes we keep bailing
While cities completely bankrupt
Justice system based on jailing
Endless war in foreign nations
Police shoot first and think later
'Specially when you're not Caucasian
That's how cla** stratification
Leads to political subordination
Just like the Brandeis quotation
If there's wealth that's concentrated
Democracy can't be attained, in
Every issue every area
Favor those who write the paychecks
Everyone else subjugated
Whether white black brown or asian
Gender, party, and vocation
We're all slaves on their plantation
Thought it change with Occupation
Of Wall Street against the bankers
And election of Hussein but
Cops kept us from demonstrating
And Barry was a great campaigner
But no policy crusader
That's all this got me saying
[Chorus]
At the top, it's just US, nations
But I don't really trust nations
Economics, it's just us, nations
Slaves at home and in your nation
Politics, yeah we just run you nations
At the top, where you see us, nations
Run sh** here and in your nation
We too legit, boy we been that nation