Ones, Tens, Hundreds, Thousands, Hundreds of Thousands, Millions, Billions, Trillions, Zero

A million millionaires
Feeding the world to their heirs
Livin' on the dividends
Never breathin' that thick foreign air

Endless wealth creation
Borne of man's machinations
Capitalization and contamination
Floodin' the market to the point of saturation

Find salvation in reasonable rationalization
Never mind the collapse and catastrophe
The radiation pumpin' to the sea
People gotta be free to destroy all that we see
in the name of the Almighty Economy!
Hear the call of that 21st century Manifest Destiny

May we be blessed as we bend and stress
Even when we break may we never rest
Day and night, burning fires to fill our desires
It's the Almighty Economy callin'
To our hearts dead in our chests
And at the end of the day,
May a bank account test our success
And may our sins never be confessed

Never a need to arrest the flow
Growth being sown
The order of the day:
Jobs, Jobs, Jobs,
They proclaim behind the podium up on that stage
The sales pitch is always the same
VOTE for CHANGE!

Capitalism is the way
Just get with it, play the game
God is green and He wouldn't have it any other way
Opportunity and happiness await!
You're livin' in the golden age!

Labor arbitrage hidden behind the mirage
Of prosperity, sea to shining sea
the products of free trade being built
by an army of wage slaves
Brothers in chains
Hidden, forgotten, and barely paid

Back home, just close your eyes
and let reality fade
Live the boom, forget the bust
Let your soul go corrupt and rust
Feed your passion, fulfill ya lust
The world is all for you
And you leave none for us

Get what you can,
Want what you can't
Give in when ya brain is
Tellin' you to pursue
All you can consume
Chasin' the dream all the time, all at once
It's never ending, there's never enough

And when we turn the page
When we see the poison underground
and the venom flowin' through our veins
Will we tremble knowin' we've got numbered days?
Will we turn to our brothers, the slaves?
Will we look to the Almighty Economy
and pray that it saves?

Deck Hands and Chairs for the Band

There's pain and despair

Rain falls and clouds fill the air 

Fire flames and wars rage

Rats gettin' fat trapped in their cage

Living without a care 

like the world isn't ours to share. 

History repeating, page after page. 

It's time to open your eyes if ya dare

Time to face the nightmare

Or bury your head, say instead 

"Others troubles aren't ours to bear..." 

Stop, stare, then when ya see 

the darkness closin' in from everywhere

pull an about-face on the nightmare

Return to ya bubble

Forget the toil, turmoil,

the bodies buried 

And smokin' rubble

Double down on life 

without a trouble or care

Bury your head anywhere!

Keep flipping through ad books named

Cosmo, People, and Vanity Fair

Things fallin' apart 

while we grind out senseless music

Pretending it's art

Poppin pills to "lose it!"

Life's tough, but Molly'll soothe it

Jaws clenchin' when ya use it

500mg of Mg oughta loosen it

After she gets ya mind 

to grind with the music 

Auctions for pointless art

Insanity and vanity off the chart

The status elite doesn't come cheap

Wealthy sheep celebrating 

the ordinarily temporary contemporary 

Embarrassingly exemplary 

Of logic and reason's scarcity

Millions for a painting 

While millions die waiting 

Caught in wars raging over

Finance and trading

The world needs saving

And it's humans I'm blaming

We're reading words without meaning
and it's got the masses teeming for more

Another Hollywood war 

knocking at the door

The next feud, the next fight

All keeping reality far from sight

Something's wrong, 

but it's got us feeling right

Distraction in action as we listen to the voice of a generation
who's got nothing to say. 

Applying "genius" to money and fame
showin that fool and genius can mean the same

Feuds and disputes staged on stage

Actors and feigned rage
just selling ads on the entertainment page

Grabbing all they can before the fame fades
and empty accolades
are replaced by empty days. 

The masses in a maze
driven to a daze
by flashing lights and variations on the same
that never fail to amaze. 

Craze after craze
dancing to the same songs that we've always played. 

In time there comes a day

When the piper says it's time to pay

And what will we say 

When we've got pockets empty

With no change in the tray?

It's not that ya always 

gotta have something to say

And there's nothing wrong 

with playing just to play

But we're neck deep

In the mass of trash 

Always adding to the heap

Piling higher and higher, day after day

Just to collect from the millions willing
to pay for the rehash of noise and scrap from yesterday

And it seems as if today, 

While the ship tips and sinks

Nobody blinks or thinks

of a single thing to say

To the band and deck hands as they

continue to work and play. 

If We Would Remember

Country song on radio playin'
" Freedom isn't free and it's war that keeps on payin'! "

Da fuq is the machine sayin?
___________________________________

We remember the fallen and forget why they fell
American eyes mesmerized by the red and white of the body blue as it lies
with 21 guns pointin' to the skies
Firin' drowning a mother's cries
The tears well and our ego swells
to 21 guns and a funeral bell

Honor the vets and forget why they went
Don't question the war or what it was for
Just call it freedom's check for the rent
Nevermind the blood bein' spent
All vets go to Heaven, don't forget

Get 'em while they're young
and they'll attract to ya
Sights and sounds comin' atchya'
Promises and propaganda
Enthrallin' the young hearin' that duty callin'
"Get the training for the slayin' and maimin'
to rise above your generation!
You'll be home once the war ain't ragin',
just sign the line on the page....
 'n' there'll be no escapin' "

From Gulf to Gulf we've been at it again and again
Spirits of the fallen forgotten still hauntin' 
Nailin' Saddam's coffin, Chasin' the ghosts of Tonkin
Ya see the web of lies we're caught in?
Engulfed in the flames of the past
that never quit ragin'
Change the names of the cast,
there's always an enemy to be engagin'

Winnin' freedom from wars we didn't win
Rewind and play it again
Keep the sheep enlistin' just change the mission
Buy that youthful ambition with omission
and keep the gears spinnin' 
"We're America, We're made for winnin'!"

20 vets a day choosin' to end the pain their own way
Not fallen, but forgotten by empty promises
and training that didn't translate to the offices
Often left on the corner with needs they can't meet
The tragedy comin' complete
with over seas defeat
and suicide over livin' on the street

On and on it drags, as we ready the next attack
Brother's and sons buried one by one,
each with his story to tell
Jungles and deserts, the sights and smells
All turned to a mortal's portal to Hell
This Veteran's day, ignore the source
of the flag wrapped body bags
Just salute and ring the bell
Remember the fallen,
Forget why they fell

Privacy Catastrophe for All the World to See!

Stretching my legs after a short break! Thanks for reading!

Livin' by a policy of self assurance insurance
Day after day its rationalized reassurance

"What I made is mine!"

Pathetic and blundering is another way to term it
Your rants confirm it, as I watch ya flip, flop, and pivot
What an effort you give it!
Swallowing the blue one to relieve the pressure of reality
bearin' down on your fantasy
Just close your eyes and your mind
Keep livin' deaf, dumb, and blind

It's just fine that you're the best at what you do
but sometime you gotta stop and think of those you're doing it to
The choices you make might take years to unfold
And by then you'll be grey, wrinkled, fat, and old
While those who's story ya told have to deal in a world just as real
with a future where their past was published and sold

What ya do will never be right
When ya violating individual rights
no matter how much ya rant, argue, and fight
But I've got this creepin' feelin' that
your receiver ain't detectin' the message I'm sendin'
But if ya catch its echo in ya reflection
little introspection is my suggestion to you
But the signals in these syllables ain't goin' through
'cause you're totally the best at what you do
How could someone have insight clearer than you?

Hell unleashed, hell breaking loose
The resonance of dissonance
ringing in ya mind,  enamel gears on the grind
as ya read these words and find
The fantasy you're livin' is on the line
As ya keep runnin' from passin' time

Talking about responsibility, just look how "grown up" you seem
Then assuming none for the consequences yet to be seen
Remember pictures from before you were a teen?
How you'd scream when your mom would show someone
that picture from your first Halloween?
But here ya are, never thinking about the damage done to the young
with actions that can't be undone
'cause your 24/7 priority is actually #1

Digital affection and attention are the fix
The high comes quick but it never sticks
The feelings fade as ya spin the disk
Blundering comments and revealing pics
Day in day out never stoppin' to think
"Who might see that? Who might read this?"
Or answering to "Where was your daughter last seen?"
In the aftermath of an abductor's scheme

You gotta wake from your dream
But instead ya attempt to defend
But in the end ya remain ever aged
wishing to bathe in ya faded fame
Treating you and yours like one and the same
All in the name of fleeting affection,
love and attention in the digital age
Failing to perceive the building collection of parental misdirection
line after line, page after page all open to public inspection
You'll deserve all you receieve, all the disgust and inattention
when you learn the meaning of adolescent rage and teenage rejection