Wesley
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Posts
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Joined
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Days Won
6
Posts posted by Wesley
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It's not so far out there to think that if no one stands up to violence that violence will be inflicted. Now the debate is, if violence is to be used, when do you enact that violence?
This seems to me to be begging the question:
Would violence be necessary in moving to a free society?
Ok, so lets assume violence is needed, so where do we draw the line?
Maybe I missed some logical steps there, but a debate about whether or not violence would be necessary cannot rest on the premise that it is necessary.
I would encourage the two to have a chat about it and iron out any logical problems that may arise.
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If so, I recommend people dress as slutty gadflies. Best way to merge the two worlds.
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Resources - yes, money - no. If you pay me money to break my bike, the bike is gone and it may seem like a waste of money to you, but in reality you just made me a little bit richer.
Well I will also say that destroying resources while adding money creates faster inflation. However, yes I get what is going on now. They do not care about the country as a whole, they care about their personal increase in money. Which war destitute a nation, while making a few people very rich.
There are a handful of people who would take the deal of destroying 10 peoples lives while giving himself a fat check. Then do it again and again. They tend to work in the war industry, or maybe politics.
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Btw, to be clear, wars don’t “waste” money, but rather “transfer” them from society in general to companies that supply the war effort. In one of the recent podcasts (on Syria) Stefan pointed out that the vast majority of jobs created in the US over the last couple of year were in the “defense” industry, when the rest of the economy actually bled jobs.
There also is a distinct wasting of money. If I build a bomb and then blow it up, something is wasted. If it was a transfer, then the wrong thing is built, but someone can use it for something. If you build something to be blown up, it seems to me like an actual waste of resources.
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Sons of Liberty
Frank Turner
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ovpxo0Q3CLQ
Lyrics:
Once an honest man could go from sunrise to its set
Without encountering agents of his state or government
But a sorry cloud of tyranny has fallen across the land
Brought on by the hollow men who did not understandThat for centuries our forefathers have fought and often died
To keep themselves unto themselves, to fight the rising tide
That if in the smallest battles we surrender to the state
We enter in a darkness whence we never shall escapeWhen they raise their hands up our lives to possess
To know our souls, to drag us down, we'll resist
Watt Tyler led the people in 1381
To meet the king at Smithfield to issue this demand
That Winchester's should be the only law across the land
The law of old King Alfred's time of free and honest men'Cause the people then they understood what we have since forgot
That the government will only work for their own benefit
And I'd rather stand up naked against the elements alone
Than give the hollow men the right to enter in my homeWhen they raise their hands up our lives to possess
To know our souls, to drag us down, we'll resistStand up, sons of liberty, and fight for what you own
Stand up, sons of liberty, and fight, fight for your homes
Stand up, sons of liberty, and fight for what you own
Stand up, sons of liberty, and fight, fight for your homesStand up sons of liberty, and fight for what you own
Stand up sons of liberty, and fight, fight for your homes
Stand up sons of liberty, and fight for what you own
Stand up sons of liberty, and fight, fight for your homesSo if ever a man should ask you for your business or your name
Tell him to go and f*ck himself, tell his friends to do the same
'Cause a man who'd trade his liberty for a safe and dreamless sleep
Doesn't deserve the both of them and neither shall he keepSong Meaning:
The song is mostly self-explanatory, so listen or read the lyrics.
For anyone interested in the part about Watt Tyler and the Peasant's Rebellion, feel free to read up here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peasants'_Revolt
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wat_Tyler
I very much enjoy the Irish style of the song, and the last verse puts a bit of a smile on my face.
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I wanted to give these another bump to say that I got my shirt in today and to post pictures to maybe entice some others to go buy. I also noticed that the thread count could be higher, but they are tagless, feel really nice, and had a great printing that I think should last a while. Obviously, I love the look which is why I purchased one.
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Let's start small: keep a dream journal. Write down your dreams as soon as you wake up. Sometimes the chronology may be different from what you wrote to what you actually experienced, just do the best you can.
I have found it really helpful to jot them down and read for later analysis, sometimes your interpretations will be quick and easy AS you write the dream down, or it may require some time away from the entry before diving into it.
If you have trouble remembering your dreams, I think lucid dreaming is a bit harder because you won't be able to put a bit of an awakened mind into your dream state enough to think, "am I dreaming and what can I do to control this dream?" Often times when you DO do that, it causes you wake fully or lose sight of the dream.
So for now I would focus on writing them down first and remembering as best as you can. Over time you'll be able to jot down more details. For instance, when I first started logging my dreams, I could only write down scenes as they happened, then the details started becoming more vivid, and most importantly, I got to the point where I was able to remember what my dream mind was thinking during a particular instance.
Hope this helps.
I do do this. I have a dream journal, and sometimes used my iPhone notepad app to write dreams. I actually had a dream last night so my mind may be noticing that I have a desire to remember and analyze my dreams more and and making a greater effort to do so. I also analyze afterwards as extensively as I can.
I also have had periods in the past where I remembered really good dreams that had complex analysis almost every night that really helped me. I also go through periods where I do not dream as much.
I am wondering in a sense if there is a way to induce complex and vivid dreams, and even lucid dreams. However, just consciously trying to remember my dreams and trying to dream more may be working already.
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In an unprecedented move, Pope Francis reached out to atheists and agnostics, telling them that God will "forgive" them as long as they behave morally and live according to their consciences, the Telegraph reported
. Francis wrote a letter to the Italian newspaper La Repubblica under the byline "Francesco" as a response to editorials written over the summer by Eugenio Scalfari, an agnostic and the founder of the paper.
Scalfari had asked whether, "the Christian God forgives those who do not believe and do not seek faith," the Telegraph reported.
According to the report, Scalfari said he had not expected Francis to respond, "so extensively and so affectionately, with such fraternal spirit."
"To listen and to follow your conscience means that you understand the difference between good and evil," the Pope said.
His letter did not impress the Italian Union of Atheists and Agnostics, the Telegraph reported.
"Why should a non-believer seek legitimization from the Pope?" the association said. "What interests non-believers is certainly not 'forgiveness' from an entity whose existence we do not trust."
So it looks like Pascal's Wager is even less valid than it was 2 days ago.
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Once it gains critical mass though, then the idea of a state official coming to your house and asking for something will just be laughed at in the same way that someone coming to my house and asking to buy a slave would be today. When the moral argument changes that many people, everything will just fall away.
But as was said earlier, it is not about the state only. There is religion, family, and many other potential areas where the idea that "violence achieves good" or "irrational collective with different moral rules" may exist.
Finally, I understand that he means in a defensive way, but it makes me feel uncomfortable for someone to say that "violence is bad and it is necessary for us to use violence to achieve non-violence". I am not sure I could logically say it is a contradiction because of self-defense, but it feels weird to me in a way I cannot explain.
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My personal theory is that if you become more receptive to your unconscious mind...it has less of a need to communicate to you through your dreams...
This may be true as I have made a lot of progress, but I feel far from "fully integrated". I also did dream last night, so that may be some additional evidence that I still am capable of dreaming and my unconscious has more to say.
I am looking at trying to make the dreams I do have become more vivid and more memorable and maybe within a dream be able to control or delve more into them. This would mean that the dreams I am still having would gain more power and I would remember them.
I may be wrong and do a lot of work and find that I have mostly resolved things, but I feel like I have more to do. If I can delve more into my unconscious for a while and I find nothing new, then it may be indication that I am more fully integrated than I think I am- which I would need to analyze that in itself.
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Killing the Future
rebel inc.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7m-jijpfS5A
Lyrics Snippet:
SMOKE-STACKS FILLIN THE AIR
FACTORIES DON’T CARE
THEY ARE CONTENT WITH
KILLIN THE FUTURESOLD-IERS MARCH IN TO WAR
KILLIN MORE AND MORE
THE POWER WHORES ARE DE-
STROYIN THE FUTUREGREE-DY HANDS THEY TAKE
FROM THE HANDS THAT MAKE
IT’S A SHAME THEY ARE
STEALIN THE FUTUREPE-OPLE SIT BACK AND WATCH
LIKE HANDS ON A CLOCK
PICK UP THE GLOCKS AND
TAKE BACK THE FUTURESong Meaning:
rebel inc. is a libertarian band that does things a little bit on the harder side of things. This song is from the album that was named by Jim Florentine of VH1 as the best metal album of 2012. This (and many of their songs) are about releasing anger and frustration toward the system as it exists. They tend to have some themes of "revolution" like the line "pick up the glocks and take back the future". I do not think that revolting would be very effective, but it does help me to release anger at times to listen to the music. This song is obviously about how people are "killing the future" and that that is a bad thing.
People who listened to the newest rendition of Adam vs the Man may know that rebel inc adapted a guitar riff from this song as the intro for AVTM.
Here is a link to their site so anyone who wants to can read their bio, or check out more songs or merchandise:
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I have a feeling that this is what happens when people do not direct their anger at the proper object.
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I have been working on my skills of dream interpretation and the like lately, however I am still not remembering enough of my dreams in order to analyze them and the few dreams I am remembering seem to be simple or straight forward.
I am thinking that it may be valuable to work on lucid dreaming. My understanding is that it can be helped along by "status checking" which is that every hour or two you check to see if you are dreaming by counting fingers or looking at a watch for movement (which I am thinking of buying a watch to remind me) and that while checking you try to ask if you are asleep or not. At some point you will check inside a dream and realize that it is a dream which can give you much more vivid dreams, as well as potentially explore selected areas of your dream world.
I read a couple old threads on lucid dreaming, but I did not see anything about tips or techniques for trying to create them (though maybe I missed it). Does anyone have any experience or expertise with this? or know whether it would be a good way to create vivid dreams? or whether I should buy the watch I am looking at basically to induce lucid dreams in a few days? Any help would be useful as I am somewhat new to the idea.
Thanks in advance
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What is your past experience with things you were good at or wanted to do and what happened to those things?
Can I ask you this question again, but not in reference to the recent past, but instead to your childhood?
Are you still living at home?
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So I have a couple questions and I will leave the "learning programming" stuff to the numerous technical people on these forums.
What do you feel exactly when you start to program? More detail and honesty is better.
What would you feel if you were to succeed at programming?
What is your past experience with things you were good at or wanted to do and what happened to those things?
I think if you don't look at the emotional aspect, then you are sidestepping the actual problem that is preventing you from accomplishing this dream. I look forward to your response.
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You have to spend a lot of time phrasing things so that he thinks you are intelligent and inquisitive rather than a conspiracy theorist and attacking.
For instance, if you talk to government officials about "chem-trails" you get no where. However using the terms "geoengineering" and "cloud seeding" is perfectly appropriate.
If you want to get real answers to lots of questions you need to put a lot of work into speaking his language. Of course you can decipher the answers later from the propagandist language, but that would be my two cents.
You will not get his to answer anything about "criminal counterfeiting" or "toilet paper fiat money" or other such terms. You will likely be ignored.
The goal is to ask a question so that he answers it truthfully and it reveals something to others or that you can go through 3 questions that he answers which leads to a 4th that he doesn't, but everyone then understands the implications by that point.
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I am not sure where I would draw the line. I would consider lying in that way to at least be fraud and still wrong. I am not sure if it could be rape or not.
With the condom you could directly ask or check yourself, so I can't see how that could be rape. Just check. However this is a gut feeling and there may be a weird situation where someone could trick you.
I think there is a certain amount of intoxication where it would enter a gray area of potentially being rape. Just because of the potential for someone to claim rape it generally wouldn't be preferable to have sex with someone in a one night stand situation when they are intoxicated. Way too much risk.
In all of these I do not know where I would draw the line exactly. They are not "the same" and this is a false argument. If I kill 1 person, then I have done murder and this is wrong even is it was calm and in their sleep by injection. A mass axe murderer does way worse things and it still falls under the category of murder, however I would say that he would generally be worse.
There are questionable areas as to where you should draw the line. However rape is wrong no matter how "slight" the rape. The gray part is whether these situations qualify as rape or not and I do not have good answers as to where the line should be in the same way that I do not have a good way to determine when a child becomes an adult. I could see arguments either way.
Where would you place the line and why?
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"How many times have you had sex with a woman in the vagina or anus or put your fingers in her vagina after you told lies, threatened to end the relationship or pleaded with her until she agreed?"
Is that really the definition of rape? Wouldn't that be unjust towards the women (and men) that get assaulted, beaten and violently forced to sex?
I would say it is imprecise and certainly presents some gray areas on what qualifies for rape. It is not at all unjust toward rape where violent assault takes place.
Some metaphors:
If I was hit once as a child, then I was assaulted. This means nothing about a child that is beaten to the edge of their life repeatedly.
If I take one puff of a cigarette, then I smoked. It means nothing about someone who smokes a pack a day for several years.
Maybe the definition could use a little work and may include some gray areas, but we may need to add in rape against men or rape against children which as Kevin said may be unreported in the study as it only dealt with male rapists and seemingly female victims. (For instance, in the US more men are raped than women)
However, that is not the point of the article. The point is that rape is all too common for anyone's comfort and should be exposed as to the vast number of rapists and victims of rape that exist in society. Until people understand how prevalent the problem is then they cannot start working to fix the problem and instead chalk it up to "how men are" and normalize it or an Oedipal complex or "women are crazy" to normalize it.
The first step to solving a problem is for people to de-normalize it and show people that it is a problem that needs to be worked on.
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State Run Radio
Lupe Fiasco
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wMEUPTfW7SM
Lyrics Snippet:
You're now tuned into the weakest,
Frequency of fear, keep you locked right here,
And hope you never leave this, never be a leader,
Think inside the box, and follow all procedures,
Never ever believe that, you will never need this,
Hit up all your friends and tell them to repeat this,
Hi, you're on the air, now what you want to hear?
Well we ain't got the truth, but how about a remix?
Different is never good, good is only what we pick,
You ain't got a hit, unless it sounds like these did,
Not too smart you will be a superstar,
And if you dumb or something maybe you could be number oneSong Meaning:
This song is always entertaining to me. This song makes fun of pop songs and how they are meaningless garbage. The chorus sounds like a repetitive pop song that is catchy and is intended to simultaneously be somewhat poppy while making fun of pop songs. It is from the perspective of a pop song talking to a radio station and saying that I will play over and over again. Must be state run radio. The versus then get into some very good intelligent things about how the mainstream media and radio stations hide the truth and try to keep you brain dead and "at the bottom" with terrible pop songs while a lot of terrible stuff is happening in the world. The result is a somewhat fun and catchy pop song as well as an intelligent commentary on pop media followed by somewhat of a call to action to create your own media and support independent artists.
This is on the album Lasers which has an anarchy symbol on the cover. Lupe is very anti-state and I think is an anarchist though I am not totally sure. Lupe is a very intelligent guy. I remember seeing a video of him debating Bill O'Reilly where O'Reilly was angry because Lupe had called Obama a terrorist. O'Reilly had his panties in a bunch and thought he would smash some unintelligent rapper, and instead got an intelligent guy with decent arguments to back up the claim. Cue O'Reilly yell fest so that a smart person with different opinions can't talk (haven't seen that before).
Then there was the Obama inauguration rally where they booked Lupe Fiasco which resulted in his playing the song "Words I Never Said" that contains the lyrics
Gaza strip was getting bombed, Obama didn’t say shit
That's why I ain't vote for him, next one either
I’ma part of the problem, my problem is I’m peaceful
And I believe in the people.Which he played the song over and over until he was kicked off the stage. Was quite an interesting news story on a day that wass supposed to be celebrating Obama's coronation.
Lupe has some syndicalist leanings where at least one of his songs has a fantasy about eliminating property and is religious (Islam), however many of his songs are quite intelligent and get people to think, especially more than most pop songs. I believe it is considered "conscious rap" though Lupe dislikes the idea and wishes there wasn't a category called conscious because everyone was rapping about real topics.
Enjoy the song!
Edit:
Just realized I didn't quote my favorite line in this song
Independent spirit, you can barely hear what they're sayin'
Truth ain't gettin' on like shampoo on an airplaneMakes me laugh!
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"The exception [that] proves the rule" is a frequently misused English phrase. The original meaning of this phrase is that the presence of an exception applying to a specific case establishes ("proves") that a general rule exists. For example, a sign that says "parking prohibited on Sundays" (the exception) "proves" that parking is allowed on the other six days of the week (the rule). A more explicit phrasing might be "The exception that proves the existence of the rule."
From: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exception_that_proves_the_rule
To help you understand.
1. There are a lot of obstacles
2. Because we have philosophy (or some other exception), we overcame the obstacles (The Exception)
3. Most people do not have this exception/benefit
4. Most people will not be able to overcome these obstacles (The Rule)
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We can pick whatever reasonable number that would show a good statistical representation that would be very easy and cheap to achieve and then define what "success" would mean.
Finally, we should try to eliminate variables when possible (maybe send only to philosophy department head), and when impossible try to encompass all potential variables (maybe send one to one college in each different state and territory in US and Canada). Someone should be able to design a test project to prove out the theory or determine it is a waste of time.
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Full article:
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-09-10/one-in-four-men-surveyed-in-asian-study-say-they-raped.html
Almost one in four men surveyed in Asia said they committed rape at least once, in a study that may encourage renewed steps to prevent sexual violence.
Researchers interview more than 10,000 men at nine sites in Bangladesh, China, Cambodia, Indonesia, Papua New Guinea and Sri Lanka in the first multi-country survey on the prevalence of rape, said Rachel Jewkes of South Africa’s Medical Research Council, one of the authors of the article published today in The Lancet Global Health journal.
One in 10 men said they had raped a woman who wasn’t their partner, the researchers found. When partners were included, the figure rose to 24 percent. Just under half of the perpetrators said they had raped more than one woman. The rates of violation differed between the sites: 11 percent of men questioned in Bangladesh said they had committed rape, compared to 60 percent in Bougainville, Papua New Guinea.“We really need to understand more,” Jewkes said in a telephone interview yesterday. “Bangladesh is not a particularly violent country, but the prevalence of non-partner rape is far higher than one would presume.”
That last quote is silly. "This country is not violent, they just rape a lot."
The prevalence of rape and child sexual abuse is way too common in the world.
The researchers found that men who had themselves been abused as children were more likely to commit rape. Men with a history of physical violence against a partner, or who had paid for sex or had had a large number of sexual partners were more likely to rape someone they didn’t know.
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I would say we would need empirical evidence. Send it to maybe 10 philosophy professors/departments and see what the results are. This could be funded easily (even by you on your own if the free resources are used) to provide proof of concept.
If nothing or very little happens then we know it would probably be a waste of time. If we see results of articles, or course changes, or something that shows measurable results then we would be able to have an idea of what the response might be if it were widened. Then the results can lead to an educated decision as to how worthwhile it would be.
If proof of concept is determined, then I would support the idea, but like Mike I do have doubts that it would work.
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I very much enjoy listening to good music (who doesn't?) but especially music that not only sounds good, but I can identify with on an intellectual or emotional level. I am starting to keep a playlist on my computer that contains songs that I identify with in this way. I occasionally stumble across a popular song that borders on something, but I hope that others have songs that they enjoy or even bands that have songs about these kind of topics. I remember seeing a couple threads with people advertising their own songs who I would be happy to see added in a somewhat consolidated place.
So I am looking for songs that have topics similar about:
- Anarchism
- Libertarianism
- Self Knowledge
- Peaceful Parenting
and any other topic that is discussed on Freedomain Radio.
Obviously there may not be perfect philosophical consistency in a song, but being able to identify with the artful expression of a complex feeling or idea can be an enjoyable or enlightening experience.
Please add a YouTube link or mp3 of the song you are referring to and what the song means to you if you would like to add to the list. Try not to clutter the thread with all of the lyrics, but providing a brief snippet to give an idea of content would be helpful in deciding whether one wants to listen to the whole song.
Be sure to upvote any songs that you like, especially from artists that are not mainstream so that others notice the post and listen to the song.
Hopefully, others will find this thread useful and enjoyable and add content so that I can find new songs and bands that resonate with me so that I can have a more enjoyable playlist than I currently have.
Edit: If the video is essential to the meaning (aka the dancing or images make it a more meaningful song) then you can post an embedded video by pasting a YT link as plain text or by using the code
media='640 x 360'
YT LINK
/media
with square brackets around the opening and closing.
You can force it to not embed for other songs (so as not to slow down page load time) by pasting the YT link and then adding the html code for the link into the link. This can be done by highlighting the text and clicking the add link button.
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So I figured I would post the first song as a song that resonated with me a few months ago as I was exploring some of my "demons"
Demons
Imagine Dragons
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GFQYaoiIFh8
Lyrics Snippet:
I want to hide the truth
I want to shelter you
But with the beast inside
There’s nowhere we can hide
No matter what we breed
We still are made of greed
This is my kingdom come
This is my kingdom come
When you feel my heat
Look into my eyes
It’s where my demons hide
It’s where my demons hide
Don’t get too close
It’s dark inside
It’s where my demons hide
It’s where my demons hideSong Meaning that someone posted that resonates with how I feel about it:
It's like anyone that you see passing by, they might have a smile on their face but if you look into their eyes and really look at the details you will see they're in pain because eyes don't lie.
"When you feel my heat, look into my eyes that's where my demons hide..." shows that they may not show it but the person is struggling with past problems, fears, secrets which in this song he refers to as "demons".
Now someone is trying to enter in on that person's life but they don't want to let them in because they don't want them to be involved in all their troubles, etc. Hence, "Don't get to close, it's dark inside." He doesn't want the so-called to get to close to the person because of their demons.
But towards the end of the song, it's more of a cry for help. "I can't escape this now, unless you show me how." The person wants to be released from their troubles and they're asking for help.
This song can relate to anyone who's facing troubled times or who needs to learn to open up.________________________________________________________________________________________
Apparently, it added it to the introductory post, but you still get the idea of what a post may look like.
The Epic Liberty Music Thread
in Reviews & Recommendations
Posted
Taxman
The Beatles
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZqK97av7I3s
Lyrics:
1,2,3,4,1,2
Let me tell you how it will be,
There’s one for you, nineteen for me,
‘Cause I’m the Taxman,
Yeah, I’m the Taxman.
Should five per cent appear too small,
Be thankful I don’t take it all.
‘Cause I’m the Taxman,
Yeah, I’m the Taxman.
(If you drive a car ), I’ll tax the street,
(If you try to sit ), I’ll tax your seat,
(If you get too cold ), I’ll tax the heat,
(If you take a walk ), I’ll tax your feet.
Taxman.
‘Cause I’m the Taxman,
Yeah, I’m the Taxman.
Don’t ask me what I want it for
(Haha! Mister Wilson!)
If you don’t want to pay some more
(Haha! Mister Heath!),
‘Cause I’m the Taxman,
Yeah, I’m the Taxman.
Now my advice for those who die, (Taxman!)
Declare the pennies on your eyes, (Taxman!)
‘Cause I’m the Taxman,
Yeah, I’m the Taxman.
And you’re working for no-one but me,
(Taxman).
Song Meaning:
Well, obviously the Beatles are awesome. This was a decently popular song they released talking about the "Taxman" and parodying how arbitrary and unavoidable the taxman's taking of taxes are. Somehow, the song still manages to be rather fun and enjoyable in its presentation.
For those who do not know the Beatles ran into the massively high progressive taxes of the British government under Harold Wilson of the band when they started making money. They were subjected to a 95% super tax (one for you nineteen for me). Wilson and Heath in the background refer to the leaders of the Labor Party and of the Conservative Party, which are the two largest British political parties.
Harrison often added more lyrics on tour like: "If you're overweight, I'll tax your fat."