Down 'n' Outer

The growing debate in America seems, increasingly, to be "what, are we entitled to?" Your immediate reaction to that was to read that question and say, in the typical American fashion, "We are not entitled to anything! We must work for what we want."

MMmm, perhaps. I'm inclined to think that our actions speak louder than our words. Increasingly we show a desire for our government, regardless of the dismal track record, to step in and "fix" that which we blunder. Health care, welfare, entitlements, education, safety, defense, retirement. At what point do we say, "Hold it! No more." Where do we strike a balance between "equal opportunity not equal results?" What is our government REALLY responsible for? What are WE responsible for? And when one or the other fails, who is responsible to step in as the "safe guard?" Are we just hoping for the easy way out? "I'll write the check, you take care of it and assuage my fear/guilt of "getting involved". It really is easier to just send money, don't you think? Even better, take it out of our paychecks and we never have to get our hands dirty.

I was, just now, privileged (Thank you Blondie) to be included in and asked to contribute my thoughts on a small collection of topics. Politics, economics and law. Specifically, in this case, the homeless. I will not bore you with the length and breath of my thoughts on the issue or this particular conversation, I will only say that it brought to mind the lyrics of two very important songs...Maybe they will make you think. Both are sung by Nanci Griffith.

Down 'N' Outer

I once was a lot like you
We share a dream
I couldn't make come true
I was a child who wrote my name
Across a frosted window pane

And there are jobs that I might hold
If they'd just let me through the door
Without a shower and new clothes
That I can ill afford

Chorus
Can you spare the time?
Can you spare a dime?
Can you look me in the eye?
I'm down'n'out
And I am lonely
Do you ever think of me on Sunday?
No, I don't live across the water
Hey, I live right here on this corner
Just a bank account away from America

I won't hurt your family
I don't want a house there on your street
And I know that you think that I'm
As lazy as a hobo's sigh
Now, you call me down'n'outer
If there's a way out
I've not found 'er
I only want to earn my piece of America

Chorus

I'm just a bank account away from America


Music and Lyrics included with this one.



I am a backseat driver from America
They drive to the left on Falls Road
The man at the wheel's name is Seamus
We pass a child on the corner he knows
And Seamus says,"Now, what chance has that kid got?"
And I say from the back,"I don't know."
He says,"There's barbed wire at all of these exits
And there ain't no place in Belfast for that kid to go."

Chorus
It's a hard life
It's a hard life
It's a very hard life
It's a hard life wherever you go
If we poison our children with hatred
Then, the hard life is all they'll ever know
And there ain't no place in (Belfast) for these kids to go
(Chicago)
(this world)

A cafeteria line in Chicago
The fat man in front of me
Is calling black people trash to his children
He's the only trash here I see
And I'm thinking this man wears a white hood
In the night when his children should sleep
But, they slip to their window and they see him
And they think that white hood's all they need

Chorus

I was a child in the sixties
Dreams could be held through TV
With Disney and Cronkite and Martin Luther
Oh, I believed, I believed, I believed
Now, I am a backstreet driver from America
I am not at the wheel of control
I am guilty, I am war I am the root of all evil
Lord, and I can't drive on the left side of the road