"You Young Ones" (poem)

You young ones will tell us when you get older,

You wish you'd seen clearer, you wish you'd been bolder.

Received opinion's not what it seemed,

Now you know it's not what you dreamed.

Study long, work hard and get a good job Get into the system, don't be a slob. Students? No problem, get a loan for your fees, Pay us back later, take as long as you please.

Into the workforce, at last you've got money But at the end of the month it doesn't seem funny With 2.4 children, mortgage and car You worked such long hours but it didn't go far.

Some of you enrolled for training schemes, Improved your skills, enlarged your dreams. Then you found the skills weren't needed Here, at home - to overseas the jobs were ceded.

In the majority world where life is cheap Production's a doddle and profits are steep, No cares about pensions; health and safety is crude, Fourteen hours a day keep the workforce subdued.

You joined the union, showed your grit, Even that wasn't the end of it. Agreements signed were soon annulled, The union's teeth had all been pulled.

"Make Poverty History" became the new call, By 2010 we could end it all If we all pulled together to finish the trouble. In fact the same year we saw poverty double!

"Democracy's the thing, let's spread it worldwide" With scant regard for the numbers who'd died Worldwide in previous wars of attrition. Is there really no end to imperial ambition?

Pit man against man and sect against sect, No regard for the numbers of lives that are wrecked If your name is Bush, Rumsfeld, Cheney or Blair. Makes no difference; in politics, nothing is fair.

The nations' police forces - for public protection! -Have been used more and more for casual selection Of ordinary folk seeking simply a voice For issues not covered by brute market force.

It's clear what you young ones need now, not later, Is exposure to values which are somewhat greater, Like production for use and access for all, No second-class citizens with backs to the wall.

Freedom in all things, isn't that what you want?

Freedom to say, do and go where you want?

Give us a call or look on the net

The Socialist Party's the name, check out what you'll get -

 JanetS