"Now, the real prospects for authentic democracy depend on something else. They depend on how the people in the rich and privileged 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?
Because 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They no longer represent us, is it not our obligation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?