Talkin' Bout a Revolution to Turn the Tables
Tracy Chapman's simple and elegant anthem of working class angst
The American presidential election is just two weeks away.
There’s a lot of chatter, speeches and promises out there, but not much revolution.
The United States populace is very divided. The political machine that runs the country is very united. So much so, that voting today is really for a uniparty.
The money that controls the machinery behind the scenes is obscene.
In 2010, the Supreme Court ruled in favor of wealthy benefactors over protecting the interests of working class Americans. Citizens United overturned century-old restrictions on campaign financial contributions.
Welcome to the Corporatocracy.
A Voice for the Neglected Class
In 1988, a shy, African-American singer-songwriter, raised in Cleveland, used her unique vocal talents to speak for an entire class of people.
Tracy Chapman tapped into the psyche of the working class with her simple anthem: Talkin' 'bout A Revolution.
A powerful reminder to the corporate class not to dismiss the swell of anger roiling up below on the main streets across America.
Don't you know
Talking about a revolution?
It sounds like a whisper
Not much has changed since the 1990s. Decades later, Chapman’s words still ring true.
While they're standing in the welfare lines
Crying at the doorsteps of those armies of salvation
Wasting time in the unemployment lines
Sitting around waiting for a promotion
Actually, America is worse off today than it was back then:
Working class men face high risks of dying young from “deaths of despair” such as suicide, drug overdoses, and alcohol-related.
The working poor "are persons who spent at least 27 weeks [in the past year] in the labor force, but whose incomes fell below the official poverty level."
The share of wealth owned by the richest 10 percent of U.S. families rose to 69.1 percent in 2016.
What’s left for the working class? Did Chapman foreshadow the next step?
Poor people gonna rise up
And get their share
The phrase “tables are starting to turn” means that poorer folks are finally gaining an advantage over the moneyed class. What is this advantage? It is certainly not financial or political power.
'Cause finally the tables are starting to turn
Talkin' 'bout a revolution
In truth, it seems like the only real advantage the working class possess is hitting rock bottom. The bedrock. The foundation.
There is no more downward trajectory.
The only meaningful movement is to rise up.
Oh, I said you better run, run, run, run, run, run
Coda
In my view, America is now an extremist country. All positions lie at the ends.
There is no middle ground, no real commonalities, other than citizenship, that hold us together as a unified nation.
The gap is too wide. The divide too embedded.
A presidential election used to symbolize a sense of steering the nation on a course correction that leads to prosperity for all.
The statistics show us that we are driving ourselves into a dangerous state of affairs.
Maybe it’s time to get a Fast Car.
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