Nations that stomp around the globe like King Kong infect themselves with a fatal virus.

This is a song I created that was inspired by Chris Hedges’ latest essay America is a Gangster State. Here are some other articles with the same theme in descending chronological order. I saved the best for last. I bet the author of this Foreign Affairs essay never imagined that his description would apply to the US. Exhibit A: In mafia states, government officials and criminals often work together through legal business conglomerates with close ties to top leaders and their families and friends.

The Trump doctrine exposes the US as a mafia state (7.1.126)

Donald Trump’s America Is Acting Like a Mafia State (5.1.26)

Donald Trump is turning America into a mafia state (7.3.25)

Trump’s America is a gangster’s paradise (29.1.25)

Mafia States (25.4.12) An important obstacle to combating the spread of mafia states is a basic lack of awareness among ordinary citizens and policymakers about the extent of the phenomenon. “

Turn it up and resist!

Peace, MAA

(Verse 1)
We walk the streets of fractured laws,
Where empire’s shadow grins and claws,
The suits are slick, the coffers fed,
While justice sleeps, cold and dead.
Diplomats reduced to errand boys,
Gunboats roll, the blocks destroy,
Soft power’s gone, it’s muscle now—
The mob in charge, they show us how.

(Pre-Chorus)
They talk of freedom with a loaded gun,
Preach peace while war is never done,
Rule of law but not for all—
Just for those who ride and brawl.

(Chorus)
We’re singing the Gangster State Blues,
A nation built on empire’s ruse,
Gold-lined pockets, iron fists,
We lost the dream in the mist.
No more laws, just crooked crews,
Welcome to the Gangster State Blues.

(Verse 2)
The halls of Congress hollowed clean,
Bought and sold behind the screen,
Courts that bend, police that crush,
Dissenters silenced, voices hushed.
Wall Street kings with golden chains,
They write the rules, they break the reins,
Prosperity for just a few—
For the rest, it’s déjà vu.

(Bridge)
Here in this land, so fierce, so proud,
We shout our love, but silence loud,
The truths we fear, the wars we make,
The cost of all the hearts they break.
History’s eye won’t look away,
Empires die when debts are paid,
The people rise, the tyrants fall—
Justice echoes through us all.

(Final Chorus)
We’re singing the Gangster State Blues,
No more myths, no more excuses,
Broken laws and stolen dues,
We fight to shed the Gangster State Blues.
Justice rising, voices fuse,
Break the chains, refuse to lose—
Singing the Gangster State Blues.

Version 1

Version 2