Letter From Barack Obama to Karl Marx Circa 2011 lyrics

Come on, don't give me that look, Karl.
I know you're disappointed.
But to be fair you've made things
pretty tough out here.

Sure, I read the Communist Manifesto
in college, but didn't we all?
They hurl your name at me
at every rally, every speech.

Say I'm trying to take away
their religion
their money
their freedom.

Right? I laughed at that last one too.
Like they know the first thing
about what is means to have
your liberation thwarted,

your agency made obsolete.
They always say you never
really know until you're sitting
in the chair yourself.

The dialectical opposition of the
Oval Office an ever-present
reality to me.
But what do you expect?!
I can't hang your picture on the wall
or place a bust of your visage
on the desk.
Who would you replace?

Dr. King?

I don't like that this is
the space I occupy,
that there is no room here
for counter-hegemonic conceit.

Everything just keeps on turning, Karl
no matter whose hands
are on the wheel.