This song was written when Reagan was waging the Contra war in El Salvador. 

It struck me that he called the Contras "Freedom Fighters" and the opposition "Terrorists". 

The sad truth about this song is that here we are, over 20 years later, and we had to change a one phrase in the lyrics (the original "safety of our money" is changed to "safety of our oil supply") to bring it into the present. 

I'm in a small town. I'm in a state of confusion. 
I'm in a country that doesn't seem to give a damn. 

We are responsible for so much pain and destruction. 
Did we not learn a thing from Viet Nam? 

And yet we claim to be supporting democracy. 
So many freedom fighters to be freed. 
But to the powerless, it's just hypocrisy. 
We import their cash crops, export our greed. 

What have we come to when the safety of our oil supply 
Becomes more important than the sanctity of life? 

We say freedom is the principle we're fightin' for. 
But when we make war, how can freedom survive? 

And yet we claim... 

We're not a small town. We're not a State or a country. 
We are travelers on this little ball of mud. 

And our passport gives us just the right of passage. 
We have no right to enslave or shed blood. 

And yet we claim...