Rise.
""Political Corruption...
"Effects on politics, administration, and institutions In politics, corruption undermines democracy and good governance by flouting or even subverting formal processes. Corruption in elections and in the legislature reduces accountability and distorts representation in policymaking; corruption in the judiciary compromises the rule of law; and corruption in public administration results in the inefficient provision of services. It violates a basic principle of republicanism regarding the centrality of civic virtue.
More generally, corruption erodes the institutional capacity of government if procedures are disregarded, resources are siphoned off, and public offices are bought and sold. Corruption undermines the legitimacy of government and such democratic values as trust and tolerance. Recent evidence suggests that variation in the levels of corruption amongst high-income democracies can vary significantly depending on the level of accountability of decision-makers. Evidence from fragile states also shows that corruption and bribery can adversely impact trust in institutions" (source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Political_corruption)
Some people are aware it exists but choose to ignore it; some people are consumed by hatred for it; and some people are completely unaware of it. Political Corruption. I'm not your typical anti-government person. I have always been heavily involved in politics, even as a child. I think though that what has happened is over time, money, the same old blood, you scratch my back-~I'll scratch yours type of attitudes has become the norm.
I typically thought of it at the national level before, I admit. I never saw it at the local level, and saw first hand how it can actually destroy people's lives. How blindly people follow others just because they said something... failing to substantiate or look into any of these facts for themselves.
I've always been an overthinker, and over-analyzer. I'd rather be that way though than to just walk this life blindly to what is wrong with it. I've always been guilty of putting others ahead of myself. Always wanting to "fix things" or "fix situations" for people in an ETHICAL way.
When people act in an unethical way, and it hurts others, do they completely fail to care how it is impacting someone's life? Yes, I'm a liberal. However, you can ask anyone that knows me, I will stand up for the most conservative republican, or the outcast on the street, just as much as I will someone similar to myself. I look for the good and try to help others. I step back and soak in all of the information possible, and try to learn for myself what is actually going on, and what is the best thing for everyone as a whole.
Free your minds.
Think for yourselves.
Rise.
Together We Rise.
Flobots "Rise"
"So much pain We don't know how to be but angry Feel infected like we've got gangrene Please don't let anybody try to change me Me, just me, in the middle of a sea full of faces Full of faces, some laugh, some salivate What's in your alleyway Recycling bins or bullet cases? It's not equal, it's not fair We're different people but we're not scared We ain't never scared to pave a new path Make a new street, build a new bridge Say, can you see by the dawns early light? Free slaves running, songs words weren't right Now, a new days coming The few stay stunning while the many are handsome Your soul is alive but they want it for ransom The bass drumming is the anthem We step to the heartbeats Of our granddaughters and grandsons And Rise, together we rise Together we rise, together we rise Together we rise, together we rise Together we rise, together we rise Together we rise, together we rise Together we rise, together we rise Together we rise, together we rise Together we rise, together we rise Lost hope and found need Grounded by our surroundings Did the walls scream, universities Or you and I verse the tees? React, automatic and we burst when squeezed And make 9-11 each emergency Urgency, amber to red like the turning leaves Oh please, let the hurting cease Don't let apathy police the populace We will march across Those stereotypes that were marked for us The answer's obvious, we switch the consonants And change the sword to words and lift continents Rise, together we rise Together we rise, together we rise Together we rise, together we rise Together we rise, together we rise Rise, together we rise Together we rise, together we rise Together we rise, together we rise Together we rise, together we rise If you believe in redemption (Rise, rise) I'm calling to you from another dimension (Rise, rise) If you believe in redemption (Rise, rise) I'm calling to you from another dimension (Rise, rise) If you believe in redemption (Rise, rise) I'm calling to you from another dimension (Rise, rise) If you believe in redemption (Rise, rise) I'm calling to you from another dimension (Rise, rise)
Flobots "Handlebars"
I can ride my bike with no handlebars No handlebars, no handlebars I can ride my bike with no handlebars No handlebars, no handlebars
Look at me, look at me Hands in the air like it's good to be Alive and I'm a famous rapper Even when the paths are all crookedly
I can show you how to do-si-do
I can show
I can do anything that I want, cause look
I can keep rhythm with no metronome No metronome, no metronome And I can see your face on the telephone On the telephone, on the telephone
Look at me, look at me Just called to say that it's good to be Alive in such a small world I'm all curled up with a book to read
I can make money, open up a thrift store I can make a living off a magazine I can design an engine Sixty four miles to a gallon of gasoline
I can make new antibiotics I can make computers survive aquatic conditions I know how to run a business And I can make you wanna buy a product
Movers, shakers and producers Me and my friends understand the future I see the strings that control the system I can do anything with no resistance
Cause I can lead a nation with a microphone With a microphone, with a microphone And I can split the atom of a molecule
Of a molecule, of a molecule
Look at me, look at me Driving and I won't stop And it feels so good to be alive and on top My reach is global, my tower secure My cause is noble, my power is pure
I can hand out a million vaccinations Or let 'em all die in exasperation Have 'em all healed of their lacerations Have 'em all killed by assassination
I can make anybody go to prison Just because I don't like 'em And I can do anything with no permission I have it all under my command
Because I can guide a missile by satellite By satellite, by satellite And I can hit a target through a telescope Through a telescope, through a telescope
And I can end the planet in a holocaust In a holocaust, in a holocaust In a holocaust, in a holocaust In a holocaust!
I can ride my bike with no handlebars No handlebars, no handlebars I can ride my bike with no handlebars No handlebars, no handlebars"
New Found Glory "No News Is Good News"
"All along, we follow blindly,
Force-fed prime time, printed nightly,
Why would anybody leave the safety of their home?
I wonder why,
I wonder why,
Only disasters flood the headlines,
Other people's misery,
You're up for the next three hours,
Commercial free.
And I can't take much more of this,
We're all so wrapped up, in it,
Nothing will change, but the channels,
So I turn it off.
I see billboards on the horizon,
I can't imagine what they'll tell me,
What to wear,
What to drink,
Where to eat,
It's so easy not to think for yourself anymore,
So naive,
You don't do anything anymore.
And I can't take much more of this,
We're all so wrapped up, in it,
Nothing will change, but the channel,
And no, I can't take much more of this,
We're all so wrapped up, in it,
Nothing will change, but the channel?
We all gave in,
We all complain,
We sit and wait,
For this to change,
Worrying,
Worrying.
All along, we follow blindly,
All along, we follow blindly.
And I can't take much more of this,
We're all so wrapped up, in it,
Nothing will change, but the channel,
And no, I can't take much more of this,
We're all so wrapped up, in it,
Nothing will change, but the channels,
So I turn it off
Turn it off.
Antiflag "Turncoat"
"Turncoat, killer, lier, thief
Criminal with protection of the law
Go!
States lies dressed up as they can go
We're tired of lies we want the truth
Brodcasting corpses, could be you
We're tired of lies we want the truth
Most people they will never know
We're tired of lies we want the truth
With your own against you
Then I am against you because you're a
Turncoat, killer, lier, thief
Criminal with protection of the law
Turncoat, killer, lier, thief
Criminal with protection of the law
And you're gunna
Makes me wanna
Douse myself in gasolene
Civil somethings going on for you
Too brainwashed to see the truth
You use anyone you can
Turncoat, killer, lier, thief
Criminal with protection of the law
Turncoat, killer, lier, thief
Criminal with protection of the
Killer
Lier
A turncoat and a thief
Criminal with protection of the law"
Bob Marley "Redemption Song"
"Yeah!
Yes, this little song here is called
"Old Pirates", you know,
"Redemption Song"
Old pirates, yes, they rob I,
Sold I to the merchant ships,
Minutes after they took I
From the bottomless pit.
But my hand was made strong
By the hand of the Almighty.
We forward in this generation
Triumphantly.
Won't you help to sing
These songs of freedom?
'Cause all I ever have,
Redemption songs children
Redemption songs
Emancipate yourself from mental slavery,
None but our self can free our minds.
Have no fear for atomic energy,
'Cause none of them can stop the time.
How long shall they kill our prophets,
While we stand aside and look?
Some say it's just a part of it,
We've got to fulfill de book.
Won't you help to sing
Another song of freedom?
'Cause all I ever have, Redemption songs,
Redemption songs,
Sing a wi' me children,
In every way, now,
In everyday,
In every way,
In everyday
Emancipate yourself from mental slavery,
None but our self can free our mind.
Have no fear for atomic energy,
'Cause none of them can stop the time.
How long shall dey kill our prophets,
While we stand aside and look?
Some say it's just a part of it,
We've got to fulfill de book.
Won't you help to sing, oh
Another song of freedom? yeah child
'Cause all I ever had, did ya know?
Redemption songs.
Sing the harmony,
Redemption songs,
Jam'on with me, children!
In every way now,
In everyday,
In every way now,
In every way."
Jack Johnson "Symbol In My Driveway"
"I've got a symbol in my driveway
I've got a hundred million dollar friends
I've got you a brand new weapon
Let's see how destructive we can be
Got a brand new set of stencils
I been connecting all the dots
Got my plans in a zip-lock bag
Let's see how unproductive we can be
I've got a light bulb full of anger
And I can switch it on and off
Situations that can be so bright
I can't believe
How pathetic we can be
I've got a perfect set of blueprints
I'm gonna build somebody else
Might cost a little more than money
But what's man without his wealth?
Got a phosphorescent secret
But don't you tell nobody else
Next thing you know
The whole world will be talkin
About all the blues they got
They just ain't no use because
Mmmmmmmmmmmm
Mmmmmmm
Mmmmmmmmmmmm
Mmmmmmm"
Flobots -"Stand Up"
"Stand up We shall not be moved Except by a child with no socks and shoes If you've got more to give then you've got to prove Put your hands up and I'll copy you Stand up We shall not be moved Except by a woman dying from a loss of food If you've got more to give then you've got to prove Put your hands up and I'll copy you We still don't understand thunder and lightning Flash back to when we didn't fund the dam Didn't fund the damn levee? No wonder man Now our whole damn city's torn asunder man Under water but we still don't understand We see hurricane spills overrun the land Through gaps you couldn't fill with a hundred tons of sand No we still don't understand We've seen planes in the windows of buildings crumbled-in We've seen flames send the chills through London And we've sent planes to kill them and some of them were children But still we crumble-in the building Underfunded but we still don't understand Under god but we kill like the son of Sam But if you feel like I feel like about the son of man We will overcome So stand up We shall not be moved Except by a child with no socks and shoes If you've got more to give then you've got to prove Put your hands up and I'll copy you Stand up We shall not be moved Except by a woman dying from a loss of food If you've got more to give then you've got to prove Put your hands up and I'll copy you I said put your hands up and I'll copy you Put your hands up and I'll copy you If you've got more to give then you've got to prove Put your hands up and I'll copy you We shall not be moved Except by a child with no socks and shoes Except by a woman dying from a loss of food Except by a freedom fighter bleeding on a cross for you We shall not be moved Except by a system that's rotten through Neglecting the victims and ordering the cops to shoot High treason now we need to prosecute So stand up We shall not be moved And we wont fight a war for fossil fuel It's times like this if want to plot a coup Put your hands up and I'll copy you Stand up We shall not be moved Unless we're taking a route we have not pursued So if you've got a dream and a lot to do Put your hands up and I'll copy you I said put your hands up and I'll copy you Put your hands up and I'll copy you If you've got a dream and a lot to do Put your hands up Now shake, shake A polaroid dream Nightmare negatives develop on the screen We sit back and wait for the government team Criticize they but who the fuck are we The people want peace but the leaders want war Our neighbors don't speak, peek through the front door House representatives preach "stay the course" Time for a leap of faith Once more Put your hands up high if you haven't imagined Hope that the pen strokes stronger than the cannon Balls to the wall, nose to the grindstone My interrogation techniques leave your mind blown So place your bets let's speak to the enemy Don't let 'em pretend that we seek blood And who's we anyways Kemo Sabe? Mighty warlord wanna-be street thug A threat for a threat leaves the whole world terrified Blow for blow never settles the score Word for word it's time we clarify We the people did not want war So stand up We shall not be moved Except by a child with no socks and shoes If you've got more to give then you've got to prove Put your hands up and I'll copy you Stand up We shall not be moved Unless we're taking a route we have not pursued So if you've got a dream and a lot to do Put your hands up and I'll copy you I said put your hands up and I'll copy you Put your hands up and I'll copy you If you've got a dream and a lot to do Put your hands up"
Peter Paul and Mary "Where Have All The Flowers Gone?"
"Where have all the flowers gone, long time passing?
Where have all the flowers gone, long time ago?
Where have all the flowers gone?
Young girls have picked them everyone.
Oh, when will they ever learn?
Oh, when will they ever learn?
Where have all the young girls gone, long time passing?
Where have all the young girls gone, long time ago?
Where have all the young girls gone?
Gone for husbands everyone.
Oh, when will they ever learn?
Oh, when will they ever learn?
Where have all the husbands gone, long time passing?
Where have all the husbands gone, long time ago?
Where have all the husbands gone?
Gone for soldiers everyone
Oh, when will they ever learn?
Oh, when will they ever learn?
Where have all the soldiers gone, long time passing?
Where have all the soldiers gone, long time ago?
Where have all the soldiers gone?
Gone to graveyards, everyone.
Oh, when will they ever learn?
Oh, when will they ever learn?
Where have all the graveyards gone, long time passing?
Where have all the graveyards gone, long time ago?
Where have all the graveyards gone?
Gone to flowers, everyone.
Oh, when will they ever learn?
Oh, when will they ever learn?
Where have all the flowers gone, long time passing?
Where have all the flowers gone, long time ago?
Where have all the flowers gone?
Young girls have picked them everyone.
Oh, when will they ever learn?
Oh, when will they ever learn?"
Pete Seeger - "Which Side Are You On?"