Global Consumer

by David SmartKnight, UK

There’s a global consumer that lives in this land.  
Believing that cash buys him power in his hand
he takes his car to the superstore 
to feed the belief that he needs more,
and if we are honest, he’s you and he’s me - 
Do we really believe we can buy liberty?
 
And when will we say “enough is enough”?  
Tell me, I pray, coz I’ve had enough
Enough for one life, change overdue, 
enough competitive strife, how about you?
 
Multinationals, they’ve got us in the palms of their hands.  
Their measure of freedom? Pounds, dollars rands.
And we are all twisted round corporate fingers, 
yet, however they tell it, a little doubt lingers:
Free trade is not free with conditions attached, 
consuming the globe? That’s a mad plan to hatch.
And they sell us that this is really our dreams, 
as we sell out to our fears when we buy all these things:
Fresh food that travels the face of the earth, 
any child will tell you is clearly absurd
But what have we lost, down, buried in fear?  
Freedom comes free, right now, and right here.
 
So when will we say “enough is enough”?  
Tell me, I pray, coz I’ve had enough.
Enough for one life, change overdue, 
enough competitive strife, how about you?
 
And even down on the beach, well, fashion shows, 
because they say, “you really need clothes
to cover it up” - our arses to hide.  
To deny it implies that our elders have lied -
Although I learnt it at school, we all look the same, 
to show ourselves naked we’d be so ashamed…..
 
So I’m down on the shore, warm sun on my skin 
and the waters inviting me in for a swim
But much as I’d like to, I cannot go, and so 
for something that’s free, off to work I go
I’ll come back tomorrow, and proudly display 
the brand that I earned for my labour this day.
 
So now I say “enough is enough”.  
Join me I pray, coz I’ve had enough.
Enough for one life, change overdue, 
enough competitive strife - how about you?
 
And this global consumer, on the mill that he treads 
has forgotten the basics: warmth, shelter and bread.
“There’s enough for our needs” as Gandhi once said, 
“but not for our greeds”, get that into our heads
Our destiny’s clear, it lives on in our plans, 
in the words on the page that we write, with our hands.
 
And when will YOU say “enough is enough”?  
Say it today, it’s not very tough
to celebrate life, this change overdue: 
no competitive strife for me or for you
 
And they say Nero fiddled as Rome burned, 
2000 years on and what have we learned?
There’s no cheese down this tunnel, let’s change the tracks - 
too much has been lost for us to turn back:
Species extinguished and rainforests slashed, 
fossil fuels burned: life itself getting trashed….
 
Stand up, STAND UP and say “I’VE HAD ENOUGH”.  
Do it this day, coz enough is enough
Let go of the strife - this change over due - 
I take this stand, How about you?