For Blood And Empire
2006 | Punk
“Pull the feeding tube out of the mouth of democracy. -- Televise it starving to death, -- Once buried in the ground we can all breathe free."
Trivia
- Anti-Flag is an American "Punk Rock" band from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
- The album is the bands first release on RCA Records, and caused the band to receive criticism for turning on their anti-corporate message.
- The album features a song about the book Confessions of an Economic Hit Man.
THE HOT TAKES
Luke Tatum
The ever-so-rare anti-democracy song. We've all heard the common summation of tihs form of rule: "Democracy is just two wolves and a sheep voting on what's for dinner." It's a good one. But democracy is also the opposite of things you hear people say all the time, perhaps especially Democrats. "I believe in the rights of minorities," et cetera. Meanwhile, democracy is precisely opposed to giving a voice to minorities. Consider a vote on whether or not to take some land and turn it into a public park. Public parks, since they are often used for the trade of illicit drugs and other such behaviors, could reasonably be opposed by those who live near the land in question. But far more of the city live further away, and suffer no ill consequence by voting to support such a thing. So the neighborhood nearby is forced to have this park, much to the chagrin of the people who bear the consequences. Shocking, I know.
Sherry Voluntary
"This political shakedown, coming correct from the underground.." Every person in this country has or will be, shaken down from the gang called government. Those of us who understand that dissent is where freedom lies have to be able to "come correct" and reach others with freedoms message. Different techniques and styles abound, but however you choose to dissent, just get out there and do it.
Nicky P
Boy, oh boy, do I hate Anti-Flag. I can't think of a band off hand that represents the word "shill" better in my mind. For all the preach anarchy they sure do love their commie collectivist shit. Not too mention being swallowed up by a major label despite years of talking shit on corporations. They scream "sell-out" at the top of their Pittsburgh lungs. Still the people don't have to live up to the message I suppose. The message is solid even when the people fail and this song is no different. The song fantasizes about an anarchist uprising and toppling the democratic institutions used to enslave us with an illusion of participation. I enjoy that instead of using democracy sucks in the title, it uses war as a stand-in. Seems like a solid one for one if we're using end results as any indicator.