| Serj Tankian – The Unthinking Majority Lyrics | 18 years ago |
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First of all I would just like to say that the ideology of grammatical correctness is the retardant of free speech. Though some structure is necessary these rules should act only as guidelines to ensure that language is communicable yet still open to new ideas. If there is one language on earth that needs improvement, it is English. Secondly I agree with almost all of you in your takes on what Serj is saying. Still, I have my own opinion and this is what I got. "We don't need your democracy." The term "your democracy" has a double meaning. 1: A republic, which is what the US is. Not a democracy. Yes, the people do vote however they do not vote directly for the events, laws, bills and decisions that effect their civilization but rather representatives whom they entrust to make the decisions the people themselves would, make given the power. 2: He is also saying the "democracy" belongs to the government officials themselves. For instance the 2000 elections where electorally Al Gore won, yet Bush got the office. The patriot act, and thus legalized wire tapings of whom ever the government sees fit thus opposing the people (and the constitutional right to privacy). "Execute them kindly for me" Somehow I find it hard to believe that hard core anti war anti genocide activist Serj Tankian would ever advocate the killing of anyone outside a figurative song. He is not saying directly to kill them just as in the song Attack, he is advocating an ending to their reigns be it as simple a step as removing them from power or forcing them to do the will of the Thinking Majority. "Take them by their filthy nostrils" The nose is typically a sign of upperclassmanship, ex: turning ones nose up to someone. Looking up the economic ladder at someone who reached their state of income by forcing someone else to suffer thus generating blood money - dirty money - filthy money, turned nose = rich yet rich because of “filthy means.” The act of taking someone by their nostrils is something often done by people of authority to those of less authority. Teachers and parents for example. It is also an act which extenuates no retaliation thus suggesting the people have the power to take action against the Thinking Minority that run this fake “democracy”. "Put them up in doggy hostels." The doggy hostels are representing the homeless and extremely poor in the world which are the reason why these senators and governors are able to line their pockets. Here he is saying the rich should trade places with those they oppress and the poor are the ones to instigate this. This is reminiscent of English author John Locke, whose work inspired former (dead) president Thomas Jefferson with the suggestion that it is not the people who should fear their government but the government that should fear their people. "We don't need your hypocrisy" This line directly relates to Serj in the sense that publicly schooled (paid for by the government) Americans are taught that genocide is wrong but apparently this only applies when the instigators of the genocide pose a direct threat to the government’s authority. The Armenian genocide which few leaders in the US have even mentioned until recent years and decided to finally publicly acknowledge the fact that over one million five hundred thousand men women and children alike were brutally beaten, put to firing squads, and dumped in the deserts of Syria to die. Let alone the modern situation in the Sudan which they could actually do something to stop. Oh and lets not forget the pharmaceutical industries lobbies whom coupled with the oil industry basically make our democracy a joke and control nearly everything on those two platforms of the government and many others. “Execute real democracy.” A real democracy is one in which the people directly vote for what they want and where they truly have the power. I gather his meaning from an excerpt in “Note from Serj Tankian” which was formerly at the bottom of serjtankian.com “How about we create a real democracy right here and now! Let’s allow the people to vote for or against a pre-emptive war, universal healthcare, expansion of social security, the Kyoto Protocol, the International Criminal and World Courts, and the role of the United Nations in interventions and reconstruction of devastated lands. Let’s vote for how we want our taxes to be spent, directly. Major referendums discussed and debated thoroughly representing all sides of each issue on television. All empires represent the aristocracy in their imperial ambitions, not the general populace! Also in dire need is a true democracy of nations...” “Post industrial society” This line is referencing modern society of rich nations which we generally call the industrialized world. The purpose of an Industry is to generate or produce however the idea that this is a post industrial society is stating that the world’s golden age of oppressing the weak is over and this is the time when we should all co-exist without war or hate. “The Unthinking Majority” The group of people who do not think but remain loyal to those they elect to think for them, submitting to their will and accepting they are righteous. ”Anti-depressants” Being controlled, being used as a scapegoat for someone else’s gain and having no power are all depressing feelings. Depression would lead to Locke’s idea of rebellion against the government however in fear of them the government controls its people with the science of propaganda and help from medical and oil industries making all of the concerns of the world disappear to the general and unconcerned public. He is talking about all forms of anti-depressants which are highly profitable and uplifting to blind the majority not just pharmaceuticals. ”Controlling tools of your system” Media controls what you think, and the FCC regulates what people can and can’t say with complete disregard to the 1st amendment. The FDA controls what you eat and decides what’s acceptable to put into out bodies. Though recently the public has been advised against abusing antibiotics and steroids the federal government apparently has no problem allowing industrial farmers to inject phenomenal amounts of steroids and antibiotics into their livestock which are in turn, fed to an omnivorous population at prices lower than that of free range and organically raised animals. ”Making life more tolerable” Keeping a population which would otherwise be dissatisfied and disgusted if not kept oblivious to the injustices and the suffering of a planet, for their benefit. Ex: The US failing to recognize the Armenian genocide for nearly a century so as to keep in good relations with the post Ottoman empire, oil rich Middle East and to keep in good relations with Turkey, a main strategic invasion point for Iraq. ” I believe that you're wrong insinuating that they hold the bomb” Aside from Iraqi super guns and chemical weapons this can also apply to Iran and any other nation where the US or UN’s international atomic energy association assumes that if someone is building a nuclear power plant they must have an ulterior motive than depleting reliance on fossil fuels. “Clearing the way for the oil brigade” Here referencing not Iraq or Iran but Dick Cheney’s plans for oil pipelines running through Afghanistan and turning the media’s, thus the people’s, attention from Afghanistan to Iraq, Iran and Israel. |
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