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Mathematics || Spoken Word by Hollie McNish

  • 0:01 - 0:06
    He said "those god damn Pakistanis
    and their goddamn corner shops
  • 0:06 - 0:08
    Built a shop on every corner
    took our British workers jobs"
  • 0:08 - 0:12
    He said "those god damn Chinese
    and their goddamn china shops"
  • 0:12 - 0:16
    I told him they're from Vietnam
    but he doesn't give a toss
  • 0:16 - 0:19
    I ask him what was there
    before that damn Japan mans shop
  • 0:19 - 0:23
    He looks at me and dreams a scene
    of British workers jobs
  • 0:23 - 0:26
    Of full time full employment
    before the godamn boats all came
  • 0:26 - 0:30
    Where 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 - 0:37
    Now British people lost their jobs
    and bloody Turkish, they're to blame"
  • 0:37 - 0:41
    I ask him how he knows that fact
    he said because it's true
  • 0:41 - 0:45
    I 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 - 0:56
    He 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 - 1:03
    I ask him what was there before
    the god damn Persian curtain shop
  • 1:03 - 1:06
    I show him architectures plans
    of empty god damn plots of land
  • 1:06 - 1:09
    I show him the historic maps
    A bit of sand, a barren land
  • 1:09 - 1:13
    There was no god damn shop
    before the Pakistani came and planned
  • 1:13 - 1:17
    Man, I am sick of crappy mathematics
    Cos I love a bit of sums
  • 1:17 - 1:21
    I spent three years into economics
    And I geek out over calculus
  • 1:21 - 1:23
    And when I meet these paper claims
  • 1:23 - 1:26
    That one of every new that came
    Takes away ones daily wage
  • 1:26 - 1:30
    I desperately want to scream
    "Your math is stuck in primary!"
  • 1:30 - 1:32
    Cos some who comes here also spend
  • 1:32 - 1:34
    And some who come here also lend
  • 1:34 - 1:36
    And some who comes here also tend
  • 1:36 - 1:37
    To set up work which employs them
  • 1:37 - 1:40
    And all your balance sheets and trends
    they work with numbers not with men
  • 1:40 - 1:44
    And all this god damn heated talk
    Ignores the trade the Polish brought
  • 1:44 - 1:47
    Ignores the men they gave work to
    Not plumbing jobs but further too
  • 1:47 - 1:51
    Ignores the guys they buy stock from
    Accountants, builders, on and on
  • 1:51 - 1:55
    And I know it's nice to have someone
    To blame our lack of jobs upon
  • 1:55 - 1:58
    But immigration's not that plain
    Despite the sums inside your brain
  • 1:58 - 2:01
    As one for one, as him or you
    As if he goes, they'd employ you
  • 2:01 - 2:03
    Cos sometimes one that comes makes two
  • 2:03 - 2:05
    And sometimes one can add three more
  • 2:05 - 2:08
    And sometimes two times two
    is much much more than four
  • 2:08 - 2:10
    And most times immigrants bring more
  • 2:10 - 2:12
    Than 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.

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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/
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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

English subtitles

Revisions

  • Revision 2 Edited (legacy editor)
    Radical Access Mapping Project
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