Mathematics || Spoken Word by Hollie McNish
-
0:01 - 0:06He said "those god damn Pakistanis
and their goddamn corner shops -
0:06 - 0:08Built a shop on every corner
took our British workers jobs" -
0:08 - 0:12He said "those god damn Chinese
and their goddamn china shops" -
0:12 - 0:16I told him they're from Vietnam
but he doesn't give a toss -
0:16 - 0:19I ask him what was there
before that damn Japan mans shop -
0:19 - 0:23He looks at me and dreams a scene
of British workers jobs -
0:23 - 0:26Of full time full employment
before the godamn boats all came -
0:26 - 0:30Where everybody went to work full time,
four weeks, every day -
0:30 - 0:33"A British Business stood there first"
he claims "before the Irish came" -
0:33 - 0:37Now British people lost their jobs
and bloody Turkish, they're to blame" -
0:37 - 0:41I ask him how he knows that fact
he said because it's true -
0:41 - 0:45I ask him how he knows that fact
he says he read it in the news -
0:45 - 0:48"Every time a Somalian comes here
they take a job from us" -
0:48 - 0:51"The mathematics one for one,
from us to them it just adds up" -
0:51 - 0:56He bites his cake, he sips his brew
and says again he knows this plot -
0:56 - 1:00"The god damn Carribeans came
and now good folk here don't have jobs" -
1:00 - 1:03I ask him what was there before
the god damn Persian curtain shop -
1:03 - 1:06I show him architectures plans
of empty god damn plots of land -
1:06 - 1:09I show him the historic maps
A bit of sand, a barren land -
1:09 - 1:13There was no god damn shop
before the Pakistani came and planned -
1:13 - 1:17Man, I am sick of crappy mathematics
Cos I love a bit of sums -
1:17 - 1:21I spent three years into economics
And I geek out over calculus -
1:21 - 1:23And when I meet these paper claims
-
1:23 - 1:26That one of every new that came
Takes away ones daily wage -
1:26 - 1:30I desperately want to scream
"Your math is stuck in primary!" -
1:30 - 1:32Cos some who comes here also spend
-
1:32 - 1:34And some who come here also lend
-
1:34 - 1:36And some who comes here also tend
-
1:36 - 1:37To set up work which employs them
-
1:37 - 1:40And all your balance sheets and trends
they work with numbers not with men -
1:40 - 1:44And all this god damn heated talk
Ignores the trade the Polish brought -
1:44 - 1:47Ignores the men they gave work to
Not plumbing jobs but further too -
1:47 - 1:51Ignores the guys they buy stock from
Accountants, builders, on and on -
1:51 - 1:55And I know it's nice to have someone
To blame our lack of jobs upon -
1:55 - 1:58But immigration's not that plain
Despite the sums inside your brain -
1:58 - 2:01As one for one, as him or you
As if he goes, they'd employ you -
2:01 - 2:03Cos sometimes one that comes makes two
-
2:03 - 2:05And sometimes one can add three more
-
2:05 - 2:08And sometimes two times two
is much much more than four -
2:08 - 2:10And most times immigrants bring more
-
2:10 - 2:12Than minuses.
- Title:
- Mathematics || Spoken Word by Hollie McNish
- Description:
-
A poem on immigration based on personal experience and studies. The poem owes a lot to a book by economist Philippe Legrain called Immigrants: Your Country Needs Them.
================
Captions courtesy of the Radical Access Mapping Project, Un-ceded Coast Salish Territories of the Skwxwú7mesh, Musqueam, and Tsleil-Waututh peoples.
To learn more, see: http://radicalaccessiblecommunities.wordpress.com/subtitled-videos/
================ - Video Language:
- English
- Duration:
- 02:16
Radical Access Mapping Project edited English subtitles for Mathematics || Spoken Word by Hollie McNish | ||
Radical Access Mapping Project edited English subtitles for Mathematics || Spoken Word by Hollie McNish |