[Verse 1] Corporate ledgers draw the line with surgical precision Maintenance keeps the gears in place, improvement is ambition Oil the engine, that's expense, upgrade the motor, capitalize But when it comes to human needs, the doctrine draws disguise [Chorus] Maintenance versus improvement, the divide we know so well Preserve what is or enhance beyond, the story numbers tell Food and shelter, health and care, just keeping you alive Could be maintenance of your capacity, not enrichment to survive [Verse 2] A factory roof gets patched up tight, that's maintenance today But add a floor for expansion, capitalize away The economic logic holds for steel and brick and wire Yet human productive capacity burns like hidden fire [Chorus] Maintenance versus improvement, the divide we know so well Preserve what is or enhance beyond, the story numbers tell Food and shelter, health and care, just keeping you alive Could be maintenance of your capacity, not enrichment to survive [Bridge] No court has bought the argument, though pieces lie in wait The doctrinal foundation sits there, ready to create If enrichment means enhancement past your baseline human state Then basic needs maintaining you shouldn't seal your fate [Verse 3] The underdeveloped theory waits for someone brave enough To argue human maintenance deserves the same rebuff As corporate asset upkeep gets when sorting through the books The parallel is sitting there, it just needs sharper looks [Final Chorus] Maintenance versus improvement, carved in accounting stone What keeps machines from breaking down, what makes their power grown Perhaps the human parallel will find its courtroom day When maintenance of capacity finds its legal way [Outro] The doctrine waits in fragments For assembly's patient hand
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