The Great Lakes Zephyr - Wind Energy & Hydrogen Journal

Riveting Rosie's Granddaughter:

It's a tough conundrum to watch Rosa,
As she's led off in chains,
Rosie the Riveter's great granddaughter,
Caught in a web no one would have thought possible.

You see,
The war came,
Fifteen countries got tired of being bossed from Washington,
And took to the high seas and and swift skies.

The bombs fell here in the good ol' USA,
Made in China and Taiwan,
Though neither of these countries touched a trigger,
A far different cry than a century ago.

The calls went out,
But there was no one to answer,
The bombs were all made in China,
The bullets were all made in Vietnam.

No one knew how to run the rusting machines,
American factories had been silent for over thirty years,
No bearings or bicycles or tank treads could be made,
The supply lines were impossible across the oceans.

Even if those countries had cared,
They were tired of the bosses in Washington,
And the Americans who voted for right wing hard-asses,
Every bomb they'd seen in the forty years prior...

Stamped with "Made in the USA" had all but disappeared,
And as the war progressed,
Survivors dressed in rags made in China graced internment camps,
As the spare parts for the tanks ran out.

It was impossible to ship bullets from Hong Kong,
And the Brits were besieged on their island,
The consolidated media companies were captured,
Long before they could show the pictures.

The invaders marched Rosa into the concentration camp office,
Paid no attention to the tears or screams,
They made on her the same wars,
That had for so long been stamped "made in the USA."

Take this peek from the future,
Understand we still make plowshares instead of swords,
But under NAFTA & the WTO,
While the factories rust and people forget how they ran,

Where will those hard rich hearts take us,
As they create a world they THINK is filled,
With masters and serfs?

Do our factories need to move over seas,
So we can't even make bullets and tanks and boots,
And does Rosa need to scream in the new Commandant's office,
Before we understand what "Made in the USA" really means?

AquarianM

By: Daniel A. Stafford
(C) 03/16/2004

Author's Comments:
Both morality and manufacturing are critical national security assets. Where is that recognized in these elections?