http://projectquestion.org/?page_id=61
http://projectquestion.org/?page_id=76
http://projectquestion.org/?page_id=90
Verse One:
In a market, prices and wages are set by competition / No solidarity, ’cause everyone’s on a mission / to get theirs – in other words, to get yours / sure, you could do the right thing, but what for / when bargaining power’s dressed up as justice, bust this / all values are out the window, trust this / He with the most receipts makes the rules / While receiptless disciples of the market play the fool / Ask yourself – who’s the one getting over / when water is the price of soda / when death is the price of life saving drugs / ain’t hard to see that a market economy breeds thugs / and if you seeking remedy, don’t hold your breath / without a fancy ass lawyer, the courts is deaf / and when the media’s a market auctioning off speech / There’s no voice without a receipt / it don’t take a psychic to know what they all about / when you hear them devils say – let the market sort it out / ’cause let the market sort it out, well that means we stuck / bowing down to the biggest gun or biggest checkbook / and it ain’t just price – that the market perverts / when wages are targeted, it’s the workers who hurt / pitting the least powerful against one another / It throws us off they scent when we’re suspicious of each other / Instead of working together to decide our fate / we make the market a god and let god dictate / but goddamn it, if profit is the only commandment / This can’t be our religion, it’s time we demand / a new system – where we learn again to care / where market share’s replaced by fair share / We want real institutional change / And no i ain’t talking about washing brains / but bleaching souls, if you know what I mean / ’cause money only has one color / and that’s red, blood red
CHORUS:
we don’t want no markets, or central bureaucracy / we want PARECON values, we want real democracy / we want to participate, not just be obedient / participatory planning is our last main ingredient
Verse Two:
Instead of competing, we cooperating / worker and consumer councils negotiating / what kind of products and how much we gonna make / not to mention how much work it’s gonna take / Yet when it comes to wages, we already know better / Remuneration based on sacrifice and effort / But when it comes to products and price tags / Participatory planning is a brand new bag / it ain’t just about the toll that it takes on our wallet / but the hole that’s been placed in our conscience / ’cause it ain’t just the products, it’s the byproducts / when innocent bystanders get caught up / in pollution, displacement, economic downwind / one billion children in poverty and counting / we gotta redefine the way we thinking of cost / not just to buyer and seller, but all parties involved / yo how it affects the environment and working conditions / where the value of our goods ain’t about bargaining position / but where price is just a value that reflects impact / not just of good – but the good that you can’t get back / for certain goods to be produced, others are sacrificed / that’s something that they never show in market based price / but in a PARECON, we all share the cost / to our degree of benefit, to our degree of loss / and in return for the price each individual pays / that’s the degree that they get of proportionate say / a system open to the public, nothing we can’t know / nobody guarding power, by guarding crucial info / we understand real value, so our choices are pure / no market snake oil salesman out there trying to get yours
CHORUS:
we don’t want no markets, or central bureaucracy / we want PARECON values, we want real democracy / we want to participate, not just be obedient / participatory planning is our last main ingredient
Narration: Yeah, yeah, look, it sounds good and all, but how does it work?
Verse Three:
In a PARECON, supply and demand / all starts with rounds of planning / where round one – is kind of like a wish list / made up of worker and consumer requests / with each list kicked to – other councils affected / so the real social costs of the requests are respected / Then all parties involved are checked against this first draft / facilitation boards – steady doing the math / all the pros and cons factored in the equation / then data’s redistributed for further consideration / now councils and members have a better idea / the real costs of their desires, so they can refigure / new drafts to submit based on the new info / and the process repeats and repeats and so it goes / Till individuals are satisfied with what they get / compared to the effort and sacrifice they gotta sweat / and collective requests – councils provided a choice / of five feasible plans, so then members can voice / their say proportionate to the impact of the request / until negotiation reflects what’s best / now at first it ain’t gonna flow as smooth as all that / just like any new journey, there’s sure to be set backs / that’s why critical assessment is part of the mission / and each year, the planning process gets more efficient / we take the good stuff and leave the bad behind / experiment in the cooking, getting better over time / checking history, so it ain’t left to repeating / in a system that don’t leave much room for cheating / ’cause ain’t no profit – except for the profit of social good / a real democracy where it only pays to do what you should
CHORUS:
we don’t want no markets, or central bureaucracy / we want PARECON values, we want real democracy / we want to participate, not just be obedient / participatory planning is our last main ingredient