Wise II

Workpeople just drop,
Right at their workin' they drop.
Wear, weary, tired to the core;
If one of them drops out of sight there's always plenty more.
Workpeople all know
That somebody's got them in tow….
Yet what is the good
For a few to complain?
But if everyone would,
That's something else again!
One big question inside me cries;
How many frameups, how many shakedowns,
Lockouts, sellouts,
How many times machine guns tell the same old story,
Brother, does it take to make you wise?

--"The Cradle Will Rock" by Narc Blitzstein, 1936