March Of Madness

2 Pages 564 Words

Listening to the music: Social Problems in Song
Mini-Assignment 1
Cory Rossin


The song that I have selected with respect to a social problem (Global) is “March of Death” by Zack De La Rocha lead singer of “Rage Against Machine”. The intention of this article is to inform the reader of the expressive opinion in reference to the Iraqi war in conjunction with the sociological conflict theory imposed by Karl Marx.

“March of Death implies several messages towards the act of war; consequences and political agendas within the U.S.A. government. “I won’t toe or defend, instead I curse at murderous men in suits or professionals who act like animals”. This bold statement refers to the new method of colonialism; multi-national corporations who exploit and conquer resources in countries that possess abundant supplies of tangible material and inexpensive labor. Who is in control? Who can repress the American leader, another intriguing statement by the songwriter. Finally the most important message of all, the destructive outcomes of war; thousands of helpless, innocent civilians disfigured and executed by the hands of Goliath himself.

The Social problem is evident throughout this song, war and political propaganda a method of achieving the world’s precious energy, oil. In today’s world war is not just a social problem but also a malicious execution of all humanity; in theoretical terms war exhibits all three foundations of a social problem, origin, definition, and treatment (Fleras 2001,10).

For conflict theorists war is an inevitable clash between inequalities of wealth, power, privilege, delivered through institutional means within a capitalist system. “Social problems are inherent in those societies organized around the capitalist principles of profit, competitive individualism, and class conflict” (Fleras 2001,19). “March of Death” closely reflects the conflict theory by describing religious, ...