Everyday People
NoKings XXX
Everyday People
by
NoKings XXX
is licensed under a Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
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Lyrics by Lenore Thomson Benz and John Lopker.
Unpaid work in America is worth roughly $3 to $5 trillion annually, encompassing around 25–30 billion hours per year of unpaid labor including housework, childcare, eldercare, volunteer work, and community service — none of which is counted in GDP/GNP, meaning the official economy essentially renders invisible the majority of work that actually holds society together, most of it performed by women.
The Founding Fathers sought to establish a democratic republic founded on individual liberty, separation of powers, and freedom from tyranny — a government deriving its just authority from the consent of the governed, not from kings or concentrated wealth.
When free speech is measured in dollars
Only the richest are heard
The people gets smaller and smaller
And the American Dream is deferred
Our partners, our churches, our friendships
Investments that nobody counts
When they talk about job creators
And the annual G.N.P. amount
The hours I trade for a paycheck
Are the least of what matters to me
I do what I do as a person
And the best of it I do for free
I learn, I heal, and I invent
I educate, write, and make new
Nobody pays me to do this
We everyday people just do
Our country is made up of people
All the value we add to our lives
The sharing, the feeding, and loving
That make our communities thrive
The hours I trade for a paycheck
Are the least of what matters to me
I do what I do as a person
And the best of it I do for free
If the rich and powerful just vanished
We'd still do the valuable stuff
We all have a gift to contribute
And we know when enough is enough
Lyrics by Lenore Thomson Benz and John Lopker.