Revolution recycle

** revolution recycle **
Does every second generation need to
Shed blood for you to heed to
The fact dictatorships are not swept away
By a revolutionary council presiding
Holding power so there is no back sliding
To the tyranny the revolution overthrew
Through martyrs blood on the cobble stones
Bakers clerks and taxi drivers wielding guns
Combat the armour of tanks
Through a popular uprising to overthrow
The tyrannical government in place
And replaced with a council unelected
For fighting revolutionaries know
They must always be on guard against
Return of that which went before
Must root out dissent when it appears
A state of emergency must prevail
Till every opposition voice is silenced
Country of old regime must be cleansed
From every position in government
Every soldier who was taught
The tyrant's word is law and right
Always the state of emergency lingers
Yet only so many pies and always so many fingers
A smaller revolution occurs
Hard liners force out and remove the moderates
For some of them preached reconciliation
A lessening of the council's power
And the council's chairperson now has absolute authority
Courts to serve council's whim
An army well paid to impose order
And a secret police as insidious as that which passed
The jails begin to fill up
Brief libertarian spring comes to an end
A more austere outlook prevails
For the revolution to fully succeed sacrifices must be made
Guns not butter focused upon
Luxuries set aside for common good
And if luxurious lifestyle you still pursue The council will attend to you
Counter-revolutionaries drive Ferraris
Run businesses and have large houses
Their success shows their support for old regime
String them up or deport them
And their assets the council for revolution take
So much power and so much wealth
The Council begins to manage assets diverse
Eventually it seems the smallest revolution occurs
Neither fully understood or sanctioned
As those who would contest power with Chairperson
Identified for the traitors to the revolutionary state they are
Those most loyal are rewarded
Family ties become a form of trust
Priceless in a land rent by paranoia
The Chairperson puts in place structures
To ensure none may challenge the revolution
The properties gained from former regime
Spread among those protectors of revolution
And the poor stay poor on the streets
And the secret police begin suppressing
Those who would question the Leader
All the riches fill the pockets of those loyal
And the first family do as they wish
For the courts are to serve them
The army to protect them
And the secret police to prosecute those
Who would oppose the revolution complete
And it takes the time of two generations
One to acknowledge they were conned
Another to think this time they can get it right
To rise anew against the tyrant
Shed fresh blood on the cobble stones
And the revolution is born recycled.