song for theme #20B: Authoritarianism

“Respect Our Authority, Our Party the CPC” by Stephen P. Cook

to be sung to the tune of “Big Brother” by David Bowie

You ask about Chairman Mao¹

And why he’s relevant now

Let’s seek truth from hard facts

Truth lurks in what works, greet the rest with smirks

They built a Forbidden City²

A gate between rich and misery

We’ve produced enormous wealth³

They gave you Death’s scream, us the Chinese Dream

Respect our authority

Our party, the CPC⁴eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee

A place to belong, together we’re strong

We are New China, our patriot song

On the right track we’ll fix what’s wrong

We want you to join us, please join us

Our central market planning

With top down control⁵, a good thing

Bottom up democracy’s slow

In crisis we move fast, our problems don’t last

Yes we have pollution

Inequality, corruption

With our single party state tools

We’ll beat them back soon, as we shoot for the moon

Respect our authority

Our party, the CPCeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee

Make your commitment, inside our big tent

Come give your consent, help make change ferment

Promote sustainable development

We want you to join us, please join us

I took the oath you may have heard

I memorized it and repeated every word

Discipline…communism

Never betray the Party

A place to belong, together we’re strong

We are New China, our patriot song

On the right track we’ll fix what’s wrong

Make your commitment, inside our big tent

Come give your consent, help make change ferment

Promote sustainable development

A place to belong, together we’re strong

We are New China, our patriot song

On the right track we’ll fix what’s wrong

We want you to join us, please join us 

SONG—NOTES / COMMENTS

1—Mao Zedong (1893-1976) founding father of modern China and its first chairman (1949-1976)

2—The location of Imperial China’s ruling elite’s palaces /administration for 500 years until the early 1900s

3—It is generally acknowledged that in three decades starting in the 1980s China created more wealth and lifted more people out

      of poverty than has any other nation in human history during a comparable time span.

4—The Chinese Communist Party

5—Top down governments with authoritarian rulers of centrally planned economies can act much more rapidly than cumbersome, 

  democratic bottom up type governments. However, many people in authoritarian states may lament their relative lack of freedom.

Comment: beyond emotional armor, this theme may have survival value, depending on the nature of the authoritarian regime you are expected to meekly submit to. Whether the authority is a fascist dictator or domineering spouse, some people are more willing to submit / be blindly obedient than others. Psychologists debate whether this is best explained by genetic predisposition or by long-time conditioning.