Vet2be1973 I agree with you, I just think we have different ways of defining liberal, and there are in fact a couple of different ways that it is used. 'Liberal' as it is used in American politics refers to "having political or social views favoring reform and progress" However it has a different meaning when talking about the free market. A 'purely liberal' state (which can never truly exist) is where there are no government controls I. E. No regulations, laws, police etc. On the end of the scale, an 'authoritarian' state dictates everything people are allowed to do, with resticting regulations and laws. In an authoritarian state, complete power lies in the controlling state. Most societies over the last hundred years have moved to somewhere in the middle I. E. A free market, but with police, transport, ports, schools, banks, laws, etc. Provided by the state. So when you say that both republicans and democrats have made big moves to deregulate the American economy, I agree. In this way, they are both adhering to the liberal philosophy (liberal in the sense of the free market) that the market runs best when it is left to its own devices. The gfc is evidence that excessive deregulation, while providing large economic growth over the short term, will not lead to stable or equitable societies. If 'green belts' were referring to money, we would assume that is American money. (A quick google search indicates that the pound comes in a variety of colours, and Muse are a British band.) Perhaps they are referring to how we blindly adhere to the us idea of exponential economic growth and deregulation?

Muse wrote this song in response to the Global Financial Crisis. It is all about how we are being sold materialism, to our own detriment. By convincing us that consumerism and continually growing material wealth is essential, we hand control of our lives to large corporations and banks. It has absolutely nothing to do with opposition to socialism! 'Red tape' is a familiar way of saying 'beaurocracy' or 'regulation'. So the 'green belts wrapped around own minds' means that we have been convinced that growing material wealth is the only way (green belt referring to liberalism). The 'red tape to keep the truth confined' refers to the control government has over us. Linking these two sentences together, Muse is saying the government is doing the bidding of large corporations with their single minded focus on economic growth. The gfc is testament that pure liberalism is not only unachievable, but also highly unstable and undesirable. We should not be allowing hedge funds and insurance companies to gamble our savings or banks to sell loans to people they know will never be able to repay them. We need to refocus on living standards and our environment, and sustainable ways of living. To finish, Muse is calling for us not be conned, to 'rise up and take the power back'. We need to get rid of those who seek only to make money to the detriment of everything else, or as they say 'its time the fat cats had a heart attack'. Muse does have other songs against communism and fascism (on the same album), but that is not what this song is about!