What We Want

This is a philosophical question that has been discussed and ruminated over since the dawn of time, and it is one that pertains to the very nature of human existence.  What we want is something that everyone asks themselves on occasion.  But the answer, if there is to be one, can only be truly answered in paradox.  Take the weather, for instance.  People are always complaining about it.  "It's too cold."  "It's too hot."  "It's raining outside."  "It's too sunny."  Whatever the weather is, there is something to dissatisfy us, and this is the way it is with many aspects of our lives.  To put it simply, we always want things to be the way they aren't.

It is a curious quirk of human nature, to never be satisfied or content with what we've got.  That instinct is responsible for everything good and bad about our way of life.  It is the reason great inventors create new devices.  It is the seed of discord that causes people to fight and kill one another.  It is the reason we are always trying to get more, and change the world to suit us.  Without this drive, without the sense of dissatisfaction with the world around us, we would not be able to survive, for we would be without purpose.

This eternal drive to make things "different" may make some of us vain or destructive, but it is the very basis of our existence.  Without the drive, we would never have crawled out of the jungles and caves to build civilization.  Without this desire moving forward, we will be condemned to devolve and plummet into a new dark age.  Really, it is when we are comfortable and satisfied that we are doing nothing, and allowing things to go to hell.  Just look at the fall of any great civilization.  When they get fat and comfortable, things collapse.  Being annoyed or frustrated is the motivation which leads to advancement and construction.  Being satisfied is what leads us to apathy and entropy.

So, the next time you are upset that the weather isn't good, or you're angry about something you don't have, or frustrated that your life isn't what you'd like it to be, feel grateful for this driving force.  It means you are alive, and not just sitting around and waiting to die.  Be happy that you're discontent; then go do something constructive about it.

Slipping Philosophy into Fiction

I’m not the sort of writer who spends a lot of time and effort seeking to capitalize on my political leanings.  While I certainly have personal convictions and I occasionally make a political statement or two, I don’t see my literary work as a means of indoctrinating others to my brand of philosophy.  Instead, I try to entertain my readers and present stories that can be enjoyed by a broad audience.  People can take what they want from it.

Every writer ends up speaking from their own beliefs to some degree, so I’m not saying I never interject my ideology into my works.  However, in my opinion, there are too many authors and entertainers out there who try to beat you over the head with one viewpoint or another, but when it comes to marketing that can be counter-productive.  Keep in mind, for every person who agrees with your impassioned rants, there are many more who will disagree and be less inclined to purchase your material.

 Science Fiction has always had its share of object lessons and metaphorical messages.  Writers have often utilized the “fantasy” of the genre to expound about some social injustice or potential threat, but the best of these tales have been careful to maintain the integrity of the entertainment, so readers disinterested with the moral ramifications can still appreciate the overall story.

Looking to my own works of fiction, there are generally little snippets of philosophy tossed in now and then, though the most successful use of it can be seen in The Guns of Mars.  The backdrop of the story is a sociopolitical struggle between the rights of the individual and the dictates of the State.  The Scientific Fundamentalists represent those who desire strict order and control in the name of human progress, where Morgan Asher and his allies represent the sort of Libertarian individualists we see standing up for their rights throughout history.  Even as we explore this clash of philosophies, there is an action-packed adventure that can be appreciated by anyone, regardless of their ideology.

Thrown into the mix are some interesting scientific concepts, and future technology that brings this up to the level of “hard” Science Fiction.  The world is exposed in a clear manner, so you can understand how humanity might progress over the next 250 years.  It’s my most “serious” work of fiction, and the reviews have reflected that.

This is the must-read novel a lot of people haven’t heard about yet, so don’t be shy about spreading the word.  Do me a favor; stick a link to this post on your facebook page, and let’s see what happens.

Personal Regrets

Everyone has something that troubles them, a missed opportunity or a life decision that they'd like to change.  Anyone who says they have no regrets are lying, either to you or to themselves, with rare exception.  The vast majority of people can point to something in their life and think, "I wish I'd done that," or "I wish that could've been different."  Some are our own choices, and some are simply the way the cards were dealt.

Most of the regrets in my life seem to have been beyond my ability to change them.  The things that happened were influenced by those around me and my own personality, and it was next to impossible to create a different outcome.  Such is the way with regrets; they are often inevitable, but we would like to dream of what might have been.

In my own life, the greatest regret I have is not knowing my extended family better.  I had only limited contact with my father's family over the years, and while I did have a few insightful conversations they were far too infrequent, and I never really got to know these people.  Much of what I know comes from my father's stories about them, and in some respects I realize it might be better that I am left wondering, for to know these disparate people better could mean liking them less.  Dispelling the myth and mystery would probably destroy the more romantic concepts of familial bonds.  Still, it leaves a regret that I didn't have the opportunity to find out.

I suppose some of this regret comes from growing up in a community where there are a lot of big families.  In Robbinston, you have several sizeable clans, each with dozens of cousins and many more distant connections.  Growing up, I was very much alone around here, and it left me with a lingering wonder about my own ancestry.  I suppose that is the main impetus behind my genealogical research.

There are other things I regret, to varying degrees, though this is the only real constant.  Other things are more curiosities, or feelings that only crop up every now and then.  So, here's to absent family, and those I'll never know.

Nutrition and Individuality

I had an egg for breakfast today.  People tell me they're not good to eat, and I'm going to die a slow and painful death for making such a reckless choice.  There's no real nutritional value in that egg, they say, but I scoff at them and eat it anyway.  Of course, it was a Cadbury Creme Egg, not one a chicken laid, so maybe they were right.

Yes, I'm joking.  I didn't eat the Cadbury egg for breakfast... not today, anyway.  No, that was Saturday.  Today I had my usual bowl of ordinary bran flakes, which are fortified with all sorts of vitamins and minerals to nourish the body.  It is important to eat properly, and candy is a rare aberration even for me.

Once in a while, we end up indulging, and I've had more than my fair share of snack items through the years, but I'm working to curtail that.  Will power is something I have in abundance when it comes to most things in life, but everyone has their Achilles Heel, and food has been mine for far too long.  I think a lot of it has to do with the types of food I eat, and I think if more people had the proper amount of essential nutrients in their diet, we would all be thinner and healthier.  Yet, when I try to take vitamins or other supplements, I find they make me sick.  Obviously, my body doesn't need the overabundance, so what is the right amount?

Throughout history, human beings have not eaten a balanced diet, and to be fair the "experts" keep changing the definition of balanced.  When I was a kid, they said you had to have a majority of grain items in your diet, yet today they say you need to eat mostly vegetables.  Once they said eggs were deadly, then good, then deadly, then good again, etc...  The doctors can't make up their minds, so what are we to eat?  Plankton?  Perhaps we should just switch to Soylent Green and be done with it!

I think the true answer to the whole "balanced diet" debate lies in our genetics.  What one body needs of one nutrient might be too much or too little for someone else.  I expect that someday soon doctors will come to the natural conclusion that each person's genetic coding determines what their body needs for fuel, and be able to give them a better idea of what they should consume.  The more science uncovers about the genome, the more accurately we'll be able to determine the ideal diet for each individual.

When it comes to our bodies, each individual is unique and different.  What is good for you isn't necessarily good for me, and vise versa.  This is not only the case with nutrition, but medicine as well, though far too often we are all treated as a single organism.  Cookie-cutter medicine doesn't always work, and the further we progress, the more we understand that.  The more we look into the building blocks of life, the better we will be able to treat ailments, and the healthier each unique person will be.

Of course, I don't think anyone's genome would call for a Cadbury Egg breakfast, but it still tastes good.  What's the point of being grown up if you can't be a little childish sometimes?  And that leads me to my concluding caveat.  The further we progress, the more the scientists and experts want to dictate what we do, what we eat, and how we live.  Be wary of those who would use scientific discoveries to control your life and force you to eat whatever they decide you need.  If you want to be as healthy as can be, and want to take their advice, that's very good, but it must remain a choice, no matter what.

Getting Satisfaction

It's important that we each find something to satisfy us in this life, or else we run the risk of becoming bitter and discontented.  Whether you find your satisfaction in simple pleasures, like having a good home, a good job, or that special luxury item that you always dreamed about as a kid; human beings need their mental salves.  Yes, it may sound all too worldly and materialistic, but that's the truth.  People need something to look at and say, "It's mine," or "I accomplished that."  When it comes down to it, they need to give their life meaning.

The world we live in is often filled with hardships and disappointments.  Most dreams are simply that, fanciful ideas that remain nothing more than a figment of our imagination.  How many aspiring actors never see the silver screen?  How many childhood athletes fail to get a professional sports contract?  How many amateur writers linger in obscurity?  Millions, surely, and those unfulfilled dreams linger to define us.

It is necessary to find something to fill the void, to supplant the ambition of our dreams, or at least dull the pain of falling short.  The religious among us will no doubt point out the value of God in this struggle, and as a believer I most certainly agree, to a point.  However, sometimes it helps to have something more, a purpose or prestige that augments one's own existence.

While many Christian purists will tell you that God should be the be-all, end-all of one's attention and focus, the nature of that service is what I dispute.  I don't agree our job in life is merely to read the bible and worship like a penitent peasant, waiting to die and be taken up.  As Galileo said, "I do not feel obliged to believe that the same God who endowed us with sense, reason, and intellect has intended us to forego their use."

I'm not discounting religion, or denying that one should seek to understand God.  What I am saying is that the nature of your search and worship need not be confined to simple subservience and monkish attention to scripture.  God gave us great gifts of mind and body, and he intends for us to accomplish something with them.  This leads me back to my original point, about satisfaction.

Within each of us is the innate desire to better ourselves and the world around us.  We are tasked with understanding the nature of our existence, and furthering mankind's knowledge of the universe in all its forms.  It is implanted deep within our very souls, the desire to know God, and the first step toward seeking God is to understand the truth of his creation, which is everything.

Of course, it is a slow and arduous process, and something that none of us can seek to achieve in total (at least, not in this life).  Yet, we have a need to learn, and beyond that we have a desire for meaning.  We are compelled to do something of importance, but in many cases we are incapable of achieving that.  We go through our ordinary lives, seeking to make up for our inability to impact society, dreaming of being something more than we are.  That is why we need material things, to give us the illusion of improvement.  So long as we can look at something that we're doing or have done and say, "That's my contribution," then we can feel better about our mortal existence.

Perhaps it's all in vain, a failing of our human emotions, but it is something we truly need at this stage of human development.  Make sure that you do something to impact and benefit the future in some small way, and you will find a greater contentment.  Be careful of your chosen tasks and always seek the truth, no matter where it leads.

(*I was born at 3:36 AM on April 7, 1980, which means the minute this post goes online, I will officially be 32 years old.  Bully for me!)

Fly Me to the Moon

I've always been a big supporter of the space program.  While dreaming of the future is a prerequisite for a writer of Science Fiction, I have also held very practical views on exploring and colonizing outer space.  I feel it is mankind's ultimate purpose and destiny to travel to the stars, and the first step toward doing that is to get some colonies set up in our own metaphorical back yard.  By that, I mean setting up shop on the celestial bodies in our own solar system.

Newt Gingrich said something unexpected last week.  Now, I'm no fan of Newt, but he said we should establish a colony on the moon, and I feel that has merit.  Of course, he was just pandering to voters in Florida (where NASA is located, duh!), but where he might say it as a cheap political maneuver, I actually believe in doing it.  The United States needs to go back to our nearest celestial neighbor in a big way.  It's time we picked up where Apollo 17 left off, and actually do everything our forefathers were dreaming of during the 1960's and before.  It's time to build our moonbase.

A lot of people don't care about space these days, and even more would argue that this "isn't the right time."  But when the hell is?  The simple answer is it will never be the right time if you take that attitude.  We're never going to "fix things" on Earth, and there's always going to be some crisis or war or stock market crash that's going to scare people away from "wasting" resources on such a venture.  If we'd taken this attitude in the 60's (like Walter Mondale wanted), we'd never have gone into space at all, and the frontiers of science and technology would be far suppressed.  Much of the fantastic tech we use today was subsidized and perfected by the space program—but if you prefer your slide rule and think the Commodore 64 was the best computer ever made, I'm sure you'd love the alternate reality without a space program.

I also firmly believe that our landing on the moon gave us a real shot in the arm toward winning the Cold War.  We proved our superiority over the totalitarian Communist Russians, and that bit of psychological warfare did a lot to shape the future.  If the Commies had landed, it would have told the world that collectivist authoritarianism is superior and can "get things done," and that could have given the Reds enough pride in their own accomplishment to advance even farther.  I truly believe that without Neil Armstrong's historic step, the USSR would still be a dominant power today.

So, now, almost 42 years later, we have a new batch of authoritarians plotting a space race.  The Communist Chinese have been saying for some time now that they intend to set up a lunar colony.  This is not something those of us in the free world should take lightly, nor should we ignore the worth of setting up our own moonbase.

We are at a point in human history where building a base is perfectly viable.  We have the technology, and the resources.  All we really need is the national will to do it.  The longer we wait to get back to colonizing space, the harder it will be, as more Earthly problems crop up.  There is no telling what the future may hold, and all it would take is a few extremists to drop a few bombs and we'll be back to pre-industrial technology, or worse.

In case of terrestrial catastrophe, we need someplace to store the collective knowledge of the present era; a safe haven that will assure that everything we have written, everything we have uncovered, will not be obliterated by our own follies.  There are countless stories throughout history that have been lost.  What secrets could we have known, if the Library of Alexandria hadn't been burned by an illiterate despot?  How many lost writings are we still uncovering in the deserts, and how many will never be found?  This is something that should not come to pass again, but it likely will if we don't establish a secure storehouse off-world.

It is high time mankind build a base on the moon, and pretty soon somebody is going to do it.  The question is, who do you want in charge of the base?   Do you want it run by a fascist regime that views its people as little more than farm animals, a government that has murdered millions of innocents, and has no respect for civil rights or individual freedom?  Or do you want a free democratic republic in the driver's seat, assuring that the people who go into space will be bringing the tenets of liberty and justice with them?

I say let it be free men and women who colonize space, and let it be now!

Jack Fir Misery (Minstrel Mondays)

In today's Minstrel Monday selection, we have a philosophical poem I wrote when I was twenty-one.  Take whatever you can from it.

It seems that everything

is coming down around me,

and nothing stops

the burning of my eyes,

or the harsh sting

of the wind-blown jack fir

as it tumbles down about me.

The smack and the crack

of a splintering timber,

forced to the ground

by nature's breath.

I stand beneath the behemoth trunk

and limbs of softwood that tumble

and remind me of the pains in my heart.

Life's not easy for me,

as I see our children

reeling with pain.

Yet death never comes,

for it pleases me so.

This life may be pain,

but better we go on

to make it a pleasure for others,

if we cannot partake of it ourselves.

Life never tastes bitter

to a fallen man.

And the trees still make sounds

even though no one's around,

because there's always air

to resonate vibrionic waves.

Only man could be

so arrogant to believe

that sound only exists

when he hears it.

Just as feelings only exist

if the memory persists

and he can feel them.

That is why children don't understand.

They've never felt the pain.

So is it so wrong

that I go on

protecting them now?

Should I stop to care?

Those who don't know pain,

don't know they're not feeling it.

If ignorance is bliss

let the idiots shine

if only for their fleeting moment

amongst the brilliant sky.

'Tis The Season... To Spend!

A lot of people think of Christmas as a time to spend, and for ages we've heard the other people decry the commercialization of the season.  I'm somewhere in-between.  While there's nothing wrong with the mad shopping sprees and the spirit of giving, there are some aspects of the practice that get out of hand and go beyond common sense.

Too many people spend what they don't have.  You see them scrimping and saving all year, so they can buy everything all at once, or worse, they max out their credit cards and spend the next eleven months paying them off (or not).  All this, just so they can say they bought a gift for every last person they can think of.  This isn't something I would ever do, but that's just me.

In my household, we buy what we can afford when we can afford it, and we don't wait until a special time of year to get our stuff.  If it's something we can use and we have the money, we get it.  If that happens to be July, we don't stuff the thing in a box and hide it away until December 25.  That may mean the tree doesn't have as many presents, but we feel its worth having the months of enjoyment of things, rather than the thrill of a massive pile of stuff at the end of the year.  There are always some gifts under the tree, but it's not a huge mountain of gifts.  Those are already in-use.

In these hard economic times, a lot of people are considering a more frugal spending policy this year, but others will no doubt enjoy their Christmas shopping as usual.  Feel free to buy what you want, but do try to be sensible.  If you need to mortgage your house for that new big-screen, it might be time to seek therapy...  But before you do, make sure you buy every one of my books from Amazon.com or my AuthorStore!  (Yeah, that's shameless, but if they're going to spend the money anyway, they should at least have the courtesy to send some my way.  Forget the white; make mine a green Christmas!)

Positively Negative (Minstrel Mondays)

Here's a poem with a lot of subtext, and everyone will take away a different meaning from it.  I won't go explaining it too deeply, for it would really ruin it.  You need to see your own message in this, whether it's one we share or completely opposite ends of the spectrum.  Truth is in the eye of the beholder.

Truth is in the dark

What you seek

Lies hidden from view

For you don't want to see it

You don't want it to be true

When the truth of the matter

Is contrary to your fairytales

You choose to believe the lie

A positive fabrication

Is what you want to believe

So you spend all your time

Lying to yourself

And everyone you see

Do not accept rational thought

Say it is wrong and it'll go away

Say those who don't follow

Along with your fantasies

Are simply full of hate

They want to main and murder

All the unsuspecting souls

Funny, all the while

You practice what you accuse

If truth is negative,

Call me what I am

The heretic

The hatemonger

The expletives you spew!

It's easier to lie

Than to accept the truth

Even when it means being mean

To prove a fallacious point

Look in the mirror

Positive one

And you'll see that your charge

Is not nearly as noble

As you believed at the start

Take heed of the truth

Seek to seek it

Even when it's ugly

And people will call you

The negative philosopher

What Does It Mean? (Minstrel Mondays)

The world is a pain in the ass too often, and for those of us who live outside of the mainstream it can be very trying at times.  That is why so many good people seem to give up; shut off their minds and go with the flow, because it's easy.  Following trends and being "cool" is simple, but thinking for yourself is hard... and for the record "counter-culture" is the new normal, the antithesis of its namesake.  Revel in the irony!

Here's a poem for everyone who isn't "hip," or on the cutting edge of pop culture.

What does it mean

when you see a scene on a picture screen

that reminds you of time you've lost?

Why does it hurt

when you're heart's burnt
and it's blood does spurt

all over the remnants of life?

All I see, I know it well.

I've experienced some and it was swell.

But truth be told, it's all gone to hell

and I don't want to see it any longer.

I want to vanish from the reality of pain

the misery of fame or forgetfulness.

I don't want it to be at all,

I just want to live away.

Never do I want to see

the filthy city streets,

that infamous urban beat.

The sum of things and people

that make me sick, head to feet.

Hide away from human sight

where few can find me, it just seems right.

It just feels so good to be

with only those who care for me.

Leave me alone, world of blunder,

to my peace of mind, because I know it,

and I must not be bothered with pathetic games

that seek to propagate lust and murder.

Let me give you a taste of mind,

the light of truth that anyone can find

if they bother to take the time

to use their brains once in a while.

What does it mean

these things I see, the times I dream?

Is all to be mine eventually,

or will nothing ever come to me at all?

Lives out of Place (Minstrel Mondays)

I have often felt like a man out of time.  In this age of evolving technology, it seems my mindset is one better suited for a past era, or a future one (it really depends on my mood).  Whatever the case, "modern times" have never been mine, for various reasons, and this little poem I threw together quite a while ago expresses that feeling of displacement.

Don't be afraid to buck populist trends!

Crawling through evolution,

looking out upon the future,

seeing all civility fading

from the face of homosapiens.

Yet when the thought of this

shadow of a society seems

sickening in our eyes,

it must mean

we missed the mark.

On our spiritual trek

across eternity,

we chose the wrong century.

For we are ready for things

these people have not begun to see,

and life's about learning what

we're not here to learn,

and all about getting things

we can't seem to find.

What a sorrowful plight,

this quest of human life.

What do we get

from a world that lies sleeping

in such primeval might?

Airhead Addiction (Minstrel Mondays)

I've heard a lot of really bad excuses over the years about why people should be allowed to do the destructive things they do.  People tend to justify their abuses of their bodies by equating it to something else, and one excuse a relative of mine liked to use is that "breathing is a chemical reaction our bodies are addicted to," as if that will let you off the hook for getting drunk or taking drugs.  Way to go, dude!  Oxygen is the new smack!  We're all addicts now, pass the bong!

Here's a poem I wrote on that theme.  There might be something worthwhile waiting in the words.

Life leaves you wanting

Never satisfied with what you have

Even if you pretend and lie

More is desired

It's the curse of the flesh

We try to deny

What we hold inside

But never will it be enough.

Suck in the air

All around we taste it

Thinking we need it

Oxygen keeps us alive

Without the crystal clear

We would quickly expire

Get ready for a funeral pyre!

Why do we need to breathe?

It all begins with that.

The addicting air we all consume

It's our eternal curse

I was hooked from the moment of birth

But it wasn't my fault

My mother sucked in air

All through her pregnancy

So I was condemned

To carry that burden

To suck in the air the trees excrete

Hold your breath,

End the cycle of

Dependency

Never will you have to be

Addicted to the air we cannot see

Then maybe you'll believe

The Road Not Taken (Minstrel Mondays)

Here's a little poem about alternate realities, or the ponderance of their possible existence.  Ever wonder what if about your past?  If so, this will ring true.

You're the road not taken

a place I've never been.

An opportunity that passed me by

that'll never come again.

You were likely a big mistake

a path of pain and despair

but did perchance I tread down you

in an alternate world so fair?

A sidestep through reality

created at the crossroads of life

where points of decision twist and turn

giving every choice a chance.

So somewhere beyond yesterday

I chose the other lane

and there the road not taken

became my destiny.

Did we dance, did we sing

did we cry in misery?

We could have done it all,

you see, in an alternate reality.

A tale of tomorrow's never

can always bring a smile

for it's nothing but a fantasy

full of promise and denial.

And I'll always wonder,

if somewhere over there,

upon the road not taken

if we're pondering what it's like here.

Here Shall I Die Afloat (Minstrel Mondays)

I don't like to play the moody artist, but there are times I cannot deny my own bitter feelings.  While I can't say I am terribly unhappy, or that my life as it stands is awful, there are many times when I feel unfulfilled.  I don't know if I'll ever be satisfied with myself, short of becoming a millionaire writer, and that isn't because I have a huge lust for money.  It's because I feel that my purpose in life is to weave the stories that I do, and the point is lost if people aren't reading them.

Some may think that's romantic and others will consider it pathetic, but to be sure it is the way all great thinkers feel.  Those of us born with creative ambition have a need to excel, and influence the world with what we do.  If things had been a little different, and I'd chosen a different path, it might not be such a hard road to fulfillment, but this writer's life is all I've got.

The noose slips tightly

Around my waiting hand

Dangled in the sky from

A stray cirrus cloud

The release will kill me

If I ever seek to be free

Yet to remain in flight

The life slowly drains from

My body, as rope burns

Form around my wrist

As the blood flow weakens

The throbbing pain of ages

Reminds me I'm alive

But no satisfaction can be found

The strain of the line

Pulled taut by my aging bones

I know not what it means

To be light on my feet

They dangle down beneath

Where I'm afraid to tread

This world below, I see it all

Yet none of it sees me

And I know that forgotten dreams

Will never be out of reach

Even as the wrist noose

Keeps me from striving for the mark

Holds me in place to watch

The future drifting by

Leaving me to ponder when

The rope will break

And death awaits

When it comes to an end

Can we ever let go

Of our mortal shakes?

This is Labor Day (Minstrel Mondays)

We live in interesting times, as always.  Many people decry the "end of day," as they have since the beginning of time, and others think it'll never come.  I can't say I'm a big fan of the Armageddon Now theory, as I don't think mankind has even begun to scratch the surface of its potential.  Our true purpose in this mortal existence has yet to be realized, and we won't get there in chains.

There are those who think we need to be sheep or slaves for the greater good, our own protection, or "for the children."  There are profiteers, elitists, and assorted crazies who want to undermine and destroy western civilization in the name of their own brand of philosophy (interpret that in as many ways as you desire), and I personally find myself wondering who will win out?  Most people haven't even picked a side in the growing conflict, or are afraid to declare one for fear of being judged in some way.

As for the foes of freedom, for the most part, they know not what they do.

Okay, doom and gloom aside, let's get to today's medley.  It's a little piece I call "This is Labor Day."

Recognize the follies of a million men

Where to begin, oh Lord

Where to begin

See them resting in the streets today

Who can we get on board?

Who will be brave?

For the world is turning fast

To a suicidal pact

Of enslavement and destruction

Make everybody bleed

To serve the greater need

Of a philosophical connection

So this is Labor Day

Same as yesterday

Only now we have the time to wonder why

Will it all break down

Because we sit around

And wait for someone else to fight for us

Where to begin?

They're planning our defeat

While kneeling at our feet

And swearing that we're all they care for

It'll be for our own good

When they nail us to the wood

And take away our freedoms for protection

But there has to be a way

To reach the glorious day

When men are once more free to promise

Another Labor Day

And all the children say

It's a good excuse to stay home and play

But at the heart of things

Will they ever understand

The reason we all have to kneel and pray

On judgment day

What will we say

When they've taken it all away

And we're left with nothing but

Ashes on our graves?

Will it buy them absolvence

That it was all done

In the name of benevolence

When they all lied

For their greater good?

On this Labor Day

I heard the people say

That you've gotta give it up for yesterday

But we will surely stay

Whatever game they play

The only answer left for us to make

Is if we'll break

Give in to the terror

Kneel before the fraud

Or will we stand tall

Fight against the fall

And stay true to all we believe

For tomorrow's another day

That we can say

We are free