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THE THIRD WORLD BIND
words and music (c) 1986 Nancy E. Abrams
If you're bored with bars and beaches
Gourmet food all tastes the same
You've seen every film
And TV is inane
You're making a good salary
And looking for some fun
You need a new game.
I've got the one!
It doesn't cost money
it isn't done in bed
Just listen -- you can play this whole
Game in your head:
Imagine your new life
If you should one day find
Yourself a poor farmer
In the Third World Bind
If at this point
You don't know what to do
Half a billion people
Could enlighten you
They know the rules
They live it every day
But you've never met them
They're far away. So let's play...
First, throw out all the furniture
But we'll play fair
You can keep a few blankets
One table, one chair
Throw out the family's clothes
Each one may keep
One old outfit
If it's ragged and cheap
Dismantle the toilet
The shower, the lights
Go outside for water
Full of parasites
Pull out the wiring
The phone, the TV
You don't get
Electricity
Throw out the whole house
Your standards have gone down
Move into a shed
In a shantytown
Toss out all books and papers
Cancel magazines
You'll never miss them
You can't read
Your kitchen is nothing now
But matches and salt
Some sugar and beans
One pot, that's all
Those moldy potatoes
You just threw away
You'd better rescue
That's your food for today
Don't wait for help from government
No one will come around
No subsidies, no welfare
No police for your town
Just one radio for the
Shantytown to share
That's your connection
To the world out there
Throw out your bankbooks
Your insurance policies
Stock certificates, social security
There's no one to inherit from
Forget your pension plan
You start with
Five dollars in hand
So get out and work hard
On your three acres
For every cent you make
There's a long line of takers
But save for your moneylender
Ten percent
And two-thirds for the landlord
Who takes this as rent
You can't raise much food
For your family with your sweat
Got to grow cash crops
Because you're so deep in debt
Try to make $300
From the harvest you've grown
For the rich to feed their livestock
And their pets at home
The two-classroom school
Is three miles away
But only half the children
Go, anyway
It's better for yours
To find some ways
To bring in extra money
So you’ll eat most days
No doctor for your shantytown.
No hospital
It's ten miles to the midwife
By bicycle
You'll never feel healthy
But there's no time for tears
Your life expectancy is now
40 years
Then the rich sabotage you
With a handout of food
It depresses the price you'll get
For all you grew
You play a pawn
But you're part of humankind
Justice could free you
From the Third World Bind
But even justice can't make
Fertile your field
Or show you what strains to plant
To reap a high yield
Or how to control pests
With helpful bugs and weeds
To stay off the treadmill
Of chemical needs
Justice is not easily
Attainable
Nor is agriculture that is
Sustainable
But these are your hopes
They must be combined
Science with justice
Can beat the Third World Bind
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