I was just an ordinary working slob
'Till the factory I worked in laid me off my job
They hired in some immigrants at half my pay
Slavin' there for thirty-seven bucks a day
Well, I could blame the wealthy guy who runs the place
But these foreigners he's ripping off are in my face...So, it's...
Downward Hostility
I can spit on you if you're worse off than me –Yeah,
It's Downward Hostility
I think you don't even have a right to be –Yeah,
It's Downward Hostility
The people higher up do the same to me
So, it's Downward Hostility
And the ones on top who made the mess get off for free.
The governor, he cuts the taxes for the rich
Robbing from us all to grant their ev'ry wish
He leaves the cities dying in a pool of waste
While inner-city neighborhoods go up in flames
You think he'll be thrown out, but no, he's got a plan
He blames it on the welfare bums and wins again, and it's..
Downward Hostility
I can spit on you if you're worse off than me –Yeah,
It's Downward Hostility
I think you don't even have a right to be –Yeah,
It's Downward Hostility
The people higher up do the same to me
So, it's Downward Hostility
And the ones on top who made the mess get off for free..
[Instrumental Break]
We used to think our kids would have a better life
"Work hard enough," we said, "and you can reach the sky"
Then corporations moved their plants to Mexico
Kicked us off our jobs and told us where to go
Now, maybe we should organize to stop their game
But we'd rather find some victims we can beat and blame, So, it's...
Downward Hostility
I can spit on you if you're worse off than me –Yeah,
It's Downward Hostility
I think you don't even have a right to be –Yeah,
It's Downward Hostility
The people higher up do the same to me
So, it's Downward Hostility
And the ones on top who made the mess get off for free.
And get off for free..
'Till the factory I worked in laid me off my job
They hired in some immigrants at half my pay
Slavin' there for thirty-seven bucks a day
Well, I could blame the wealthy guy who runs the place
But these foreigners he's ripping off are in my face...So, it's...
Downward Hostility
I can spit on you if you're worse off than me –Yeah,
It's Downward Hostility
I think you don't even have a right to be –Yeah,
It's Downward Hostility
The people higher up do the same to me
So, it's Downward Hostility
And the ones on top who made the mess get off for free.
The governor, he cuts the taxes for the rich
Robbing from us all to grant their ev'ry wish
He leaves the cities dying in a pool of waste
While inner-city neighborhoods go up in flames
You think he'll be thrown out, but no, he's got a plan
He blames it on the welfare bums and wins again, and it's..
Downward Hostility
I can spit on you if you're worse off than me –Yeah,
It's Downward Hostility
I think you don't even have a right to be –Yeah,
It's Downward Hostility
The people higher up do the same to me
So, it's Downward Hostility
And the ones on top who made the mess get off for free..
[Instrumental Break]
We used to think our kids would have a better life
"Work hard enough," we said, "and you can reach the sky"
Then corporations moved their plants to Mexico
Kicked us off our jobs and told us where to go
Now, maybe we should organize to stop their game
But we'd rather find some victims we can beat and blame, So, it's...
Downward Hostility
I can spit on you if you're worse off than me –Yeah,
It's Downward Hostility
I think you don't even have a right to be –Yeah,
It's Downward Hostility
The people higher up do the same to me
So, it's Downward Hostility
And the ones on top who made the mess get off for free.
And get off for free..
Contributed by giorgio - 2010/9/27 - 08:20
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Lyrics & Music by Carl E. Gunther
This song describes how people who are being oppressed are sometimes manipulated into directing their rage at others even worse off than themselves, rather than trying to throw off the shackles of their oppression. It was inspired by a remark made by Eric Mann, founder and director of the Labor/Community Strategy Center(http://www.thestrategycenter.org/), to the effect that instead of upward mobility, today we have downward hostility. Which is to say that people whose futures have been damaged or destroyed sometimes direct their rage at others even worse off than themselves, rather than dealing with those who are responsible for their own oppression.
Racism provides a powerful tool in promoting this kind of self-destructive behavior, and it is used expertly by politicians who attempt to turn anger that might otherwise be directed at themselves and their wealthy and corporate backers toward poor immigrants, welfare recipients, and others even lower in the pecking order than those to whom the racist appeal is made.