Shoplifters of the World Unite

reading everything morrissey writes as a metaphor for his sexuality is homophobic. its like saying that just because hes bisexual, he cant write about any other part of his identity or experience since ALL he is is a bisexual first, a human being second. im bisexual as well, but that doesnt mean that i dont have a complicated identity. i also grew up poor and thus had to shoplift a lot. there are of course connections that can be made: both shoplifting and sodomy are listed crimes, and therefore poor people and non-heterosexuals are turned into society's criminals. the old slogan used to inspire poor people to "unite and take over" was 'workers of the world unite'. since many poor people today are unemployed, they cant really be considered workers, so morrissey is uniting poor people who are shoplifters. but who are the real thieves? the only way the rich got all their wealth was by stealing it from other people, stealing their land, their labor, even their cultures and self-esteem. they have even created an economy that depends on constant war in order to maintain affluence ("last night the plans for a future war / were all i saw on channel four"). the rich's lack of caring for the rest of us is expressed by morrissey in his experience getting apprehended by a store security guard: "a heartless hand on my shoulder / a push and it's over". even though these security guards might not be rich themselves, they're used by the rich to inflict violence. ive seen kids CHOKED by security guards, and you may have seen on the news how wal-mart security guards in texas KILLED a man stealing diapers for his baby.