http://projectquestion.org/?page_id=61
http://projectquestion.org/?page_id=72
http://projectquestion.org/?page_id=86
Intro Narration:
Ok, so we’ve talked about the values we want out of PARECON. We’ve talked about the goal being a classless economy. So how do we get there?
Well, remember, in track three we laid out how an economy really just boils down to how you answer a few basic questions. Keeping with the food analogy, I like to think of these questions like the basic food groups.
And the first of these basic food group questions we have to ask is, "Who owns what?"
Now, by "Who owns what," we mean who owns productive property. Who owns the property that fuels the economy? From land and minerals to factories and machinery all the way to intellectual property, who will have decision-making power over this potential? Who will decide how it will affect everyone else?
And unlike in capitalism, in a Participatory Economy no one individual or group of individuals has that type of ultimate power.
Verse One:
capitalism is like an apple pie for sure / you take the apples out it ain’t an apple pie no more / so tell me baby what’s the apples in our capitalist pie / the concept that anyone should own their own slice / of farmland, factory, machinery / basically any kind of productive property / now what did you say – no, i didn’t say private / needs, wants, stuff – if you work for it, you can buy it / but if it’s property for more than just enjoyment / property that produces or is used for employment / in a PARECON, it can’t be bought or sold / productive property is something that you just won’t own / we all own it together, everything’s in the pot / and capitalism goes down with just one shot / no more slaves to a wage – slaves to a price / no more world where someone else is rolling your dice / where those who own the most – got the most say / the most sway, make the rules, set the price, set the pay / you could work you whole life and they might never work a day / i say we scrap that shit, now tell me what you say
narration: but wait if someone owns productive property and then gives me a job / what could be wrong with that
well let me break it down, tell you how we get robbed / if they own the company, well then they own your job / and if you can’t see where i’m going, then you just they type / ’cause if they own your job, then they own your life / or at least a third of it, and to make matters worse / if they own your job, then they own your work / now tell me how another cow gonna own your milk / thirty years down the road sell the dairy you built / leave your ass high and dry headed over the hill / telling you not to cry – your glass is only half spilt – bossie please
CHORUS:
but if I don’t own it, and you don’t own it / and no one owns it, that means everyone owns it / capitalism is like an apple pie for sure / you take the apples out, it ain’t an apple pie no more / so tell me, neighbor, what’s the apples in our capitalist pie / owning productive property as part of economic life
Verse Two:
we always hearing you get it how you can take it / forgetting that we came into this world buck naked / with no possessions aside from our potential / i didn’t choose my birth, it was purely accidental / so what gives me the right / to own property that affects your life / where you work, where you live / what you buy, how much you spend / once you steal another’s choice, you can’t return it – you’ve burned it / and don’t fall for that shit about hard work and how they earned it / you don’t earn the right to speak for someone else / choose for someone else – what you earn is what you give of yourself / ’cause if the property is doing the work – that ain’t you / and if the workers are doing the work – that ain’t you / it doesn’t matter how you get it or what you choose to do with it / owning productive property is strictly off limits
narration: but if this system has provided us a lot of the things we need and want
where’s the draw backs
what kind of system rewards the gumption / to take control over another’s consumption / decide how to divide productive resources / separate the fortunate sons from the unfortunate corpses / why should greed count more than need / why should my hunger count less than a land deed / when it’s food and water, you better understand / that a title in they pocket’s like a gun in they hand / the power to deny welfare and healthcare / i’ll bet the stars that tomorrow they’ll be buying up the air / a shopping spree for wind, the sun, the rain that falls / if no one’s out there to stop them, they’ll be buying it all / and if you think that i’m joking, well you best think twice / while you was bobbing your head, they already patenting life / and somehow nobody finds this shit morally odd / if they keep buying up the world, we might as well go ahead and call them devils god
CHORUS:
but if I don’t own it, and you don’t own it / and no one owns it, that means everyone owns it / capitalism is like an apple pie for sure / you take the apples out, it ain’t an apple pie no more / so tell me, neighbor, what’s the apples in our capitalist pie / owning productive property as part of economic life
Verse Three:
so let me say again and make sure it’s understood / if it’s personal goods, then baby it’s all good / but in the kind of future that we want / we get paid for the work we do – not the work we own / owning productive property just ain’t an option / and everything in the world ain’t up for fucking auction / capitalism lets one person turn the gift of our earth / into an instrument to benefit from other people’s work / robbing the next cat of self management / and little by little our diversity vanishes / they make us think solidarity is just giving to charity / nevermind the reason why we got such a disparity / what they talking about – buy low sell high / they ain’t talking about no stocks, they talking about our lives / each new receipt is just another bargaining chip / while the rest of us just trying not to lose our grip / so down with OPP – owning productive property / down with it – down with it – six feet in the ground with it / let me hear you holler PARECON if you get me / i said we firing the current owners, we taking over, now who’s with me
CHORUS:
’cause if I don’t own it, and you don’t own it / and no one owns it, that means everyone owns it / capitalism is like an apple pie for sure / you take the apples out, it ain’t an apple pie no more / so tell me, neighbor, what’s the apples in our capitalist pie / owning productive property as part of economic life / ’cause if I don’t own it, and you don’t own it / and no one owns it, that means everyone owns it