The Oldest Tool

Chains are heavy. Chains get noticed.

Somebody has to carry the keys.

But a frightened man will build his own

and thank you for the drawings.

No soldiers on the corner needed,

no midnight at the door —

just a whisper that the dark is coming

and a promise you'll be kept.

It's not a modern invention.

It's the first thing anybody tried —

The oldest tool! (the oldest tool!)

Not the sword and not the wall.

Make them scared and make them grateful —

they will do the rest themselves.

The oldest tool! (the oldest tool!)

Fear is cheap and fear is quiet

and fear has never once been out of stock.

Check the record, any era, any empire, same equation:

frighten the population, sell them back their own salvation,

you don't need a single chain if the fear does the fabrication,

they'll build the walls themselves and call it participation.

Different flags, identical hands,

identical podium, identical demands,

"there's a threat at the border, there's a threat down your street" —

and the one thing that never moves is who's holding the receipt.

And the beautiful part, if you're the one who's pulling:

they'll call it protection. They'll ask for more —

The oldest tool! (the oldest tool!)

Not the cell and not the gun.

Make them scared and make them certain —

certainty will hold the door.

The oldest tool! (the oldest tool!)

Fear is cheap and fear is willing

and fear will vote against itself.

I'm not telling you there's nothing dangerous.

There's plenty. That's what makes it work.

The trick was never inventing the danger.

The trick is who gets to size it.

THE OLDEST TOOL! (the oldest tool!)

SO ASK WHO SIZED IT!

ASK WHO GAINS WHEN YOU'RE AFRAID!

ASK IT LOUD! ASK IT OFTEN!

The oldest tool —

loses every time you check.

That's all it takes. That's all it ever took.

Check.