y#302

"We are young, confident, affluent, and with no memory of tougher times
We've grown up in an era of never ending financial growth
And expected things to stay that way
We've grown up in owner-occupied homes
With total acceptance of technology, global warming and terrorism
Our whole society has been based on consumerism for the past fifteen years
Making us dream consumers, yet we don't know the difference between a credit card
And a debit card, and we have no idea how much a pint of milk costs
On average we have eight hundred illegally downloaded songs, and one in eight of us
Spends more than one hundred pounds a month on our mobile phone bill
We've never read a newspaper, and we've never used our chance to vote
We allow our governments to make decisions without giving us all the facts
They send troops abroad who will die
In order that we can steal resources from the people who have them
People who meant us little or no harm until we invaded their country
We allow those troops to commit horrendous atrocities
And yet our leaders hang our alleged enemies for much less
We've spent years entrusting our futures to our parents, our governments
The banks and the corporations who have continually lobbied for their own interests
And we've let them make selfish decisions
That have left our society teetering on the edge of ruin
We're blinded from the information that would really shock us
By stories of sex and sleaze which doesn't make the smallest difference to our lives
And so we have no desire to do anything about the things that really do
We've watched as greed wipes billions of the world's stock markets
Destroys jobs and lives
And proves that capitalism is just as corruptible by human nature as communism
These are tough times but we seek solace in our friends and co-conspirators
We make small differences in each other's lives, and dream that we can make real progress"