Songs to Fight the Plutocracy By: "Two Good Men"

Jim Hightower:

In these times of tinkle-down economics — with the money powers thinking that they’re the top dogs and that the rest of us are just a bunch of fire hydrants — we need for the hard-hitting (yet uplifting) musical stories, social commentaries and inspired lyrical populism of Woody Guthrie. This year will mark the 100th anniversary of the birth of this legendary grassroots troubadour, who came out of the Oklahoma dust bowl to rally America’s “just plain folks” to fight back against the elites who were knocking them down.

SNIP

Going down those "ribbons of highway" that he extolled in "This Land Is Your Land," Guthrie found that the only real hope of fairness and justice was in the people themselves: "When you bum around for a year or two and look at all the folks that's down and out, busted, disgusted (but can still be trusted), you wish that somehow or other they could ... pitch in and build this country back up again." He concluded, "There is just one way to save yourself, and that's to get together and work and fight for everybody."

And, indeed, that's exactly what grassroots people are doing all across our country today. From Occupy Wall Street to the ongoing Wisconsin uprising, from battles against the Keystone XL Pipeline to the successful local and state campaigns to repeal the Supreme Court's atrocious Citizens United edict, people are adding their own verses to Woody's musical refrain: "I ain't a-gonna be treated this a-way."

Where's Woody when we need him? He's right there, inside each of us.

Uploaded by Thespadecaller on Mar 18, 2008

Throughout his career, Woody Guthrie experimented with various lyrical and musical styles. However, his best work invariably came from writing and singing about the causes and the people that he felt closest to: the workers, the unions, the poor dust bowl farmers, the downtrodden, and the oppressed. The album, Hard Travelin' includes this song, "Two Good Men" --about Sacco and Vanzetti, two immigrants executed for murder after an indictment and a trial that was inspired by politics and greed. The story of Sacco and Vanzetti still carries an ominous message. For those Americans concerned about the erosion of workers rights, the suspension of Habeas Corpus, the abandonment of the Geneva Conventions, unwarranted surveillance, and the imprisonment of alleged criminals without the right to a fair and speedy trial, the story of Sacco and Vanzetti should remain an ever-present reminder of our perilous times.