The Band Life

“In the councils of government, we must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the military-industrial complex.” –Dwight D. Eisenhower

“It is a system which has conscripted vast human and material resources into the building of a tightly knit, highly efficient machine that combines military, diplomatic, intelligence, economic, scientific, and political operations.” –John F. Kennedy

“It is unbelievable!  The military-industrial complex not only controls our government lock, stock and barrel.  But they control our culture.” –Mike Gravel

“At this hour, American and coalition forces are in the early stages of military operations to defend the world from grave danger!!!” –George W. Bush

“And there is very grave danger that an announced need for increased security will be seized upon by those anxious to expand its meaning to the very limits of official censorship and concealment.” –John F. Kennedy

“And it is a natural predictable consequence that you’re going to have people benefit from it and other people suffer.  But the Politicians and those who get to use the money first like the military-industrial complex, they make a lot of money and they benefit from it.” –Ron Paul

(gratuitous fear propaganda montage)
They’re coming from countries that want to kill us.
These people really do want to follow us here.
Radical Islamic Extremism.
They have followed us here.
Those terrorists are going to attack.
We know there’s going to be another attack.
I want them in Guantanamo.
Let’s Execute them.
We ought to double Guantanamo.
Not use the word murder
Well, enhanced interrogation techniques.
High pressure techniques.
Water boarding.
Torture.
I’m looking for Jack Bauer.
Torture People.

Say buddy can you spare a dime?
I need some help.
Have a swig to pass the time.
Waiting ever longer at the end of the bread line.

Hey mister it’s no joke.
Have you got a smoke?
Have you got a light?
Cause the fire has been taken from my sight.

Yes sir can I live with you?
Kiss your ass just to get some stew.
A dog’s blanket to kill the chill
Hold it all above me and submit the bill.

Welcome to my reality,
The kind you just don’t see.
For a dime I’ll tell the tale,
Of the tragedy of tooth and nail.

Hey buddy give me a break.
I’ve made some mistakes.
Be careful or you’ll be here too,
Begging for smokes and a bottle of brew.

Hey you can you pave the way?
For a future that’s lost it’s way.
Say buddy can you spare a dime?
Not another speech to weigh on my mind.

(Voice over)
Schulz: Speak – it is our only hope.
The Jewish Barber (Charlie Chaplin’s character): Hope… I’m sorry but I don’t want to be an Emperor – that’s not my business – I don’t want to rule or conquer anyone. I should like to help everyone if possible, Jew, gentile, black man, white. We all want to help one another, human beings are like that. We all want to live by each other’s happiness, not by each other’s misery. We don’t want to hate and despise one another. In this world there is room for everyone and the earth is rich and can provide for everyone. The way of life can be free and beautiful. But we have lost the way. Greed has poisoned men’s souls – has barricaded the world with hate; has goose-stepped us into misery and bloodshed. We have developed speed but we have shut ourselves in: machinery that gives abundance has left us in want. Our knowledge has made us cynical, our cleverness hard and unkind. We think too much and feel too little: More than machinery we need humanity; More than cleverness we need kindness and gentleness. Without these qualities, life will be violent and all will be lost. The aeroplane and the radio have brought us closer together. The very nature of these inventions cries out for the goodness in men, cries out for universal brotherhood for the unity of us all. Even now my voice is reaching millions throughout the world, millions of despairing men, women and little children, victims of a system that makes men torture and imprison innocent people. To those who can hear me I say “Do not despair”. The misery that is now upon us is but the passing of greed, the bitterness of men who fear the way of human progress: the hate of men will pass and dictators die and the power they took from the people, will return to the people and so long as men die [now] liberty will never perish… Soldiers – don’t give yourselves to brutes, men who despise you and enslave you – who regiment your lives, tell you what to do, what to think and what to feel, who drill you, diet you, treat you as cattle, as cannon fodder. Don’t give yourselves to these unnatural men, machine men, with machine minds and machine hearts. You are not machines. You are not cattle. You are men. You have the love of humanity in your hearts. You don’t hate – only the unloved hate. Only the unloved and the unnatural. Soldiers – don’t fight for slavery, fight for liberty. In the seventeenth chapter of Saint Luke it is written ” the kingdom of God is within man ” – not one man, nor a group of men – but in all men – in you, the people. You the people have the power, the power to create machines, the power to create happiness. You the people have the power to make life free and beautiful, to make this life a wonderful adventure. Then in the name of democracy let’s use that power – let us all unite. Let us fight for a new world, a decent world that will give men a chance to work, that will give you the future and old age and security. By the promise of these things, brutes have risen to power, but they lie. They do not fulfil their promise, they never will. Dictators free themselves but they enslave the people. Now let us fight to fulfil that promise. Let us fight to free the world, to do away with national barriers, do away with greed, with hate and intolerance. Let us fight for a world of reason, a world where science and progress will lead to all men’s happiness. Soldiers – in the name of democracy, let us all unite!