Is This Real – A Red Record lyrics

i was living the american dream
until i woke up to reality
we're all at each other's throats
competition is the key
when we work for someone else
we build nothing for ourselves
making the world hell
we take everything we want
with no consideration for what we need
taking our cues from television
we're losing capabilities
to make our own decisions
try to escape through consumer culture
the freedom to buy
can never equal the freedom to live
we want the world under our thumb
but it will never fit
we don't cry when the faceless die
Growing up in this country, we all learn about the american dream. I have come to the conclusion that it is a myth sold to us by capitalists, much like the prospect of heaven. It serves several purposes for those in power. If we think that someday we can all have nice big houses and happy families, then we will work their shit jobs and not think so much about how the extent to which our lives suck so that one day, if we know how to network effectively and kiss enough ass, we can be the ones with the money. We can be the CEO's. Yeah well, not only do I not believe it, I don't want that, it's an empty life. But we are constantly sold this load of shit so that we can bust our asses to make a few people rich. They exploit us and don't give a shit what happens to us.

We are told all about how much freedom we have in this country, and how we're going to fight and kill for it and how it's under attack by 'freedom haters,' but I believe that our most sacred and heavily defended freedom is the freedom to buy. We work and work and work so that we can obtain many completely unnecessary material objects. I guess the idea is that buying things will make us happy (it doesn't) and that we can forget about other aspects of our lives. We really just wind up with a lot of debt and we are still empty, no matter how much we own. We aren't supposed to be taken aback by the possibility that we will be forever paying for these things, thanks to the advent of consumer culture and buying on credit. It's become normal, most people live their entire lives in debt. It benefits a very small few who reap huge profits from our endless consumption of goods. When we live this way, we die having served for the financial enrichment of others and severely neglecting ourselves.