Temple of the Dog - Hunger Strike

From The Mouths of Decadents

1. This may as well be the entirety of ‘90s alternative rock in four minutes and six seconds. The opening chords of Temple of the Dog’s Hunger Strike are a clarion call for the disillusioned, a primal scream against the gluttonous few who feast while the many starve. In 1991, the song was a blistering critique of the economic disparity gnawing at the soul of America, and now, over three decades later, it's a war cry for a nation neck-deep in billionaire worship and national conversation debates over whether to let children eat for free at school. The fact that we’re even having this conversation, that there’s actual resistance to the idea of feeding hungry kids, is proof positive that the rich have tightened their chokehold on our collective throat, and they’re squeezing harder than ever.

   Temple of the Dog crafted a manifesto for the downtrodden. Chris Cornell and Eddie Vedder fucking howl, and it's not just howling, it's an agonized resentment on behalf of those left behind by a society that rewards gluttonous avarice and punishes poverty. The track is a searing and soaring indictment of the inequality that leaves millions to rot while the elite play the most repulsive game of Hungry Hungry Hippo as they try to win capitalism. Fast forward to the 2020s, and the song’s message is wildly prescient as we watch billionaires build their empires on the backs of the starving masses, for-profit prisons, and modern-day slavery all while politicians debate whether it’s worth spending a few tax dollars to make sure kids get lunch.

   I don't mind stealin' bread from the mouths of decadents
   But I can't feed on the powerless when my cup's already overfilled
   But it's on the table, the fire's cookin'
   And they're farmin' babies, while the slaves are all workin'

   -Temple of the Dog, Hunger Strike

2. This isn't a fucking question of economics or budgets; it's a moral crisis. The fact a society could even contemplate withholding food from children as a form of fiscal responsibility is evidence of collective rot. The billionaires and their sycophants, who argue against free school lunches, are the same leeches Temple of the Dog was screaming about. They're the ones who get fat while the rest of us "go hungry," using their power and wealth to keep the status quo intact, to ensure that the scales remain tipped in their favor.

   Temple of the Dog gave us a soundtrack to rebellion, a way to channel our rage into something visceral. Hunger Strike isn’t just about the literal act of going hungry; it's a metaphor for the emptiness in a world where wealth is hoarded like a dragon’s gold while the working poor are left to beg for scraps. This metaphor becomes flesh in the fight for free school lunches — feeding kids isn’t just about nourishment; it’s about resisting a system that values profit over people. It’s about saying, “Fuck you, I won’t let you starve my children while you gorge yourself.”

3. The argument against free school lunches is a grotesque display of indifference, a middle finger to every child who has ever gone to bed hungry. The billionaires and their bought-and-paid-for politicians are nothing more than the modern-day kings feasting in their castles while the peasants starve outside the gates. And just like Temple of the Dog refused to stay silent, we can’t let them win this fight. Feeding kids should be non-negotiable — an act of defiance against a system that has forgotten what it means to be human.

   Hunger Strike and the battle for free school lunches are cut from the same cloth: both are fights against a brutal, dehumanizing system that prioritizes the rich and powerful over basic human decency. The song is a reminder that we’re all not necessarily in the same boat, we’re certainly in the same storm, together, and that we can’t let the bastard greedheads win. Feeding kids isn’t just about food; it’s about justice, about standing up and saying, “I’m going hungry so that they don’t have to.” It’s about taking the fight to the streets, about refusing to let the rich devour us whole.