but i don't want to be an emperor. that's not my business. i don't want to rule or conquer anyone. i should like to help everyone if possible; jew
gentile
black man
white. we all want to help one another. human beings are like that. we want to live by each other's happiness
not by each other's misery. we don't want to hate and despise one another. in this world there is room for everyone
and the good earth is rich and can provide for everyone. the way of life can be free and beautiful
but we have lost the way. greed has poisoned men's souls
has barricaded the world with hate
has goose-stepped us into misery and bloodshed. we have developed speed
but we have shut ourselves in. machinery that gives abundance has left us in want. our knowledge has made us cynical; our cleverness
hard and unkind. we think too much and feel too little. more than machinery
we need humanity. more than cleverness
we need kindness and gentleness. without these qualities
life will be violent and all will be lost. the airplane and the radio have brought us closer together. the very nature of these inventions cries out for the goodness in men;
cries out for universal brotherhood; for the unity of us all. even now my voice is reaching millions throughout the world
millions of despairing men
women
and little children
victims of a system that makes men torture and imprison innocent people. to those who can hear me
i say
do not despair. the misery that is now upon us is but the passing of greed
the bitterness of men who fear the way of human progress. the hate of men will pass
and dictators die
and the power they took from the people will return to the people. and so long as men die
liberty will never perish. soldiers! don't give yourselves to brutes
men who despise you
enslave you; who regiment your lives
tell you what to do
what to think and what to feel!
who drill you
diet you
treat you like cattle
use you as cannon fodder. don't give yourselves to these unnatural men -
machine men with machine minds and machine hearts!
you are not machines
you are not cattle
you are men!
you have the love of humanity in your hearts!
you don't hate! only the unloved hate; the unloved and the unnatural. soldiers! don't fight for slavery! fight for liberty!
in the seventeenth chapter of st. luke
it is written that the kingdom of god is within man
not one man nor a group of men
but in all men! in you!
you
the people
have the power
the power to create machines
the power to create happiness!
you
the people
have the power to make this life free and beautiful
to make this life a wonderful adventure. then in the name of democracy
let us use that power. let us all unite. let us fight for a new world
a decent world that will give men a chance to work
that will give youth a future and old age a security. by the promise of these things
brutes have risen to power. but they lie! they do not fulfill that promise. they never will!
dictators free themselves but they enslave the people. now let us fight to fulfill that promise. let us fight to free the world!
to do away with national barriers!
to do away with greed
with hate and intolerance!
let us fight for a world of reason
a world where science and progress will lead to all men's happiness. soldiers
in the name of democracy
let us all unite!
Lyric Context: let us all unite! - blood on the dance floor