It’s weird that this song has gotten so much hate from the left. And the critique is always the same line about welfare, but you don’t hear them quote the rest of the words of the song.
First off, right before the welfare line, he mentions there are too many Americans starving, he’s saying that the welfare isn’t being allocated properly. If you’ve walked through the south, you’ve seen this. Trashing the whole concept of the song because one line, that in a vacuum, some people on the right use to discredit welfare shouldn’t be the goal.
I see so many comments saying we need to unite against the rich, and when a song goes viral saying to do that, he gets trashed because he looks like a republican. This song talks about:
Working overtime and getting shitty pay
Feeling like the life is being wasted paying bills, and the little bit of joy we get is through substance abuse
Politicians enriching themselves by screwing Americans over
Inflation being too high and what money that we do get in our paychecks having 30% taken out by the government.
Politicians not looking out for the working class, but befriending and partying with Epstein trafficking minors.
Young men dying at absurd rates due to suicide
Are these partisan issues? They seem like working class issues. Yeah, that welfare line I think is out of place, even if there may be some merit. But don’t lose the forest staring at a tree. This is a protest song against how the politicians have treated the working class.
The issue with the song and with right wing populism generally is that it gets some of the complaints right, but points people in exactly the wrong direction in terms of looking for solutions. So it can be really maddening for people on the left because it’s substituting for a correct analysis in a way that sabotages bringing the working class together.
That’s kind of what the whole article is spent laying out.
I thought this distinction between left and right populism from the article was useful:
As the political analyst John Judis has argued, this is more or less what distinguishes right populism from the left variety: Whereas left populism posits a binary between the people and the elites, right populism conjures a three-part division of society between “the people,” the elites, and the undeserving others whom the elites coddle at the people’s expense.
The song’s complaints about working class life ring true, but then whenever it gets close to a political statement, whether about taxes, politicians, or welfare it never says anything a wealthy conservative would argue with.
That’s kind of what the whole article is spent laying out.
Please, enlighten me with your own thinking. Is it because he’s saying some welfare programs are abused while the starving people who actually need help aren’t getting it? What do you think of the topics he addresses in the other 98% of the song?
but then whenever it gets close to a political statement, whether about taxes, politicians, or welfare it never says anything a wealthy conservative would argue with.
Is that what your issue is? Lets see, Biden is a wealthy liberal and 50 million democrats voted with him. It’s not about what a wealthy conservative or democrat would say, it’s about experience. This man is experiencing working overtime, while seeing inflation run rampant, his paycheck getting deducted 30%, substance abuse, politicians having a rich peoples club, young male suicide rates and those needing help not getting it.
Is this different than the issues in the democratic run inner cities? I lived in seattle for 6 years, I can tell you the issues he’s talked about are the same.
We seem to be going around in circles a bit. You’re pointing to the various ways in which he speaks to legitimate complaints about the difficulties of life, which I’ve already agreed are valid. The problem is nothing he explicitly or implicitly suggests doing about those problems would actually help, and indeed the implied recommendations fit more with a conservative policy outlook that would be actively harmful to people with those problems.
You’re pointing to the various ways in which he speaks to legitimate complaints about the difficulties of life, which I’ve already agreed are valid. The problem is nothing the explicitly or implicitly suggests doing about those problems would actually help,
So we agree that the song touches on a lot of legitimate complains. What’s your problem? That a man living in a trailer doesn’t have policy written out on how to address these?
and indeed the implied recommendations
What ‘implied recommendations’?? You’re just making this shit up now. He’s observing problems, I think the likely reason you hate it is because of how he looks, and you assume he’s a MAGA hillbilly.
There’s nothing wrong with music, that generally has more appeal to the right to talk about issues that affect an average person.
I’m a big believer that if you want to see the issues affecting working class, you listen to the music that they listen to. Rap has been talking about the issues with cyclical poverty since the 80’s, has been talking about gang violence, has been talking about drug addiction. It was ignored, and now look at what’s happening 40 years later, crazy crime issues, cyclical poverty and absurd drug addiction killing hundreds of thousands and ruining tens of millions of lives. Did they have policies drawn up? No, they just saw issues and made music about them.
Why can’t someone with a more bluegrass vibe do the same? He’s seeing issues that he’s personally experienced and y’all freak out because you don’t like the way he looks.
He’s blaming these problems on “rich men north of Richmond” aka Washington DC, it’s not a stretch to think about the policy implications. And what are the policies he mentions? Taxes being too high and welfare benefits being too generous. Again, not exactly a stretch to see the implied recommendation is tax cuts and welfare state cuts, pretty much the core planks of the Republican Party platform.
I definitely agree listening to the music people make and listen to can be a good way to gain insight. Really my problem with the song is the opposite of what you imply - I don’t wish he had policies drawn up at all, it’s the extent to which he does reveal policy preferences here that I have a problem with. Not that this guy is necessarily a piece of shit or anything, it’s just that what’s being revealed about him through this music is the undercurrent of conservative ideology that is the water in which he swims and which he’s unconsciously reproducing in this song.
Okay, I’ll play along with your assumptions of this guys policy proposals based on a 3 minute song that just talks about observing common issues.
Taxes being too high
No, he says taxes too high for him, a working class man. Don’t you agree? Do you think someone making 60k/year should be paying 25% taxes when the politicians making 10x that amount are paying 10%?
welfare benefits being too generous.
Really? He said ‘we have too much welfare’? No - he says that there are a ton of people starving, who aren’t getting welfare, but then we have people abusing the system getting that funding. The people that need funding aren’t getting it, do you agree or disagree?
Again, not exactly a stretch to see the implied recommendation is tax cuts and welfare state cuts, pretty much the core planks of the Republican Party platform.
No, your lens of how you perceive him, make you believe he’s saying these things that he’s not.
don’t wish he had policies drawn up at all
Good, your wish came true, he doesn’t mention any policies, but that’s your problem, that he didn’t and now you can assume his policy proposals, you’re ridiculous.
reveal policy preferences
Once again, he doesn’t. You assume based on the music he’s playing and the way he looks. You’re just being prejudiced.
Not that this guy is necessarily a piece of shit or anything, it’s just that what’s being revealed about him through this music
So you’re saying you perceive him as a piece of shit because your assumptions of his policy proposals that are based on your assumptions of one line that he’s saying in a vacuum?
Honestly, if you only respond to one thing, can you please answer this question: Do you honestly think you have 0 bias in your interpretations of his song because of how he appears and the type of music he’s playing?
Hey man just want to say sorry for all the hate and stupiduty in this comment section. Fully expecting to get down voted with you here. I’ve seen lots of great opinions and comments and communities here on lemmy so far… and also… some pretty bad ones …
Stop being lazy. You’re asking others to do the work for you seem then you’re going to sound based on their summary. Read the article like the rest of us and you’ll be on the same page.
Redirecting justifiable anger at the overclass to the underclass is classic right wing “populism”. It’s very popular with the billionaires pulling your strings.
And then redirecting anger that should go to the overclass to the underclass. The bottom line is that his song will help trick people into giving rich people get more gigantic GOP tax cuts and increase wealth inequality.
It’s weird that this song has gotten so much hate from the left. And the critique is always the same line about welfare, but you don’t hear them quote the rest of the words of the song.
First off, right before the welfare line, he mentions there are too many Americans starving, he’s saying that the welfare isn’t being allocated properly. If you’ve walked through the south, you’ve seen this. Trashing the whole concept of the song because one line, that in a vacuum, some people on the right use to discredit welfare shouldn’t be the goal.
I see so many comments saying we need to unite against the rich, and when a song goes viral saying to do that, he gets trashed because he looks like a republican. This song talks about:
Working overtime and getting shitty pay
Feeling like the life is being wasted paying bills, and the little bit of joy we get is through substance abuse
Politicians enriching themselves by screwing Americans over
Inflation being too high and what money that we do get in our paychecks having 30% taken out by the government.
Politicians not looking out for the working class, but befriending and partying with Epstein trafficking minors.
Young men dying at absurd rates due to suicide
Are these partisan issues? They seem like working class issues. Yeah, that welfare line I think is out of place, even if there may be some merit. But don’t lose the forest staring at a tree. This is a protest song against how the politicians have treated the working class.
The issue with the song and with right wing populism generally is that it gets some of the complaints right, but points people in exactly the wrong direction in terms of looking for solutions. So it can be really maddening for people on the left because it’s substituting for a correct analysis in a way that sabotages bringing the working class together.
What makes this right wing populism?
That’s kind of what the whole article is spent laying out.
I thought this distinction between left and right populism from the article was useful:
The song’s complaints about working class life ring true, but then whenever it gets close to a political statement, whether about taxes, politicians, or welfare it never says anything a wealthy conservative would argue with.
Please, enlighten me with your own thinking. Is it because he’s saying some welfare programs are abused while the starving people who actually need help aren’t getting it? What do you think of the topics he addresses in the other 98% of the song?
Is that what your issue is? Lets see, Biden is a wealthy liberal and 50 million democrats voted with him. It’s not about what a wealthy conservative or democrat would say, it’s about experience. This man is experiencing working overtime, while seeing inflation run rampant, his paycheck getting deducted 30%, substance abuse, politicians having a rich peoples club, young male suicide rates and those needing help not getting it.
Is this different than the issues in the democratic run inner cities? I lived in seattle for 6 years, I can tell you the issues he’s talked about are the same.
We seem to be going around in circles a bit. You’re pointing to the various ways in which he speaks to legitimate complaints about the difficulties of life, which I’ve already agreed are valid. The problem is nothing he explicitly or implicitly suggests doing about those problems would actually help, and indeed the implied recommendations fit more with a conservative policy outlook that would be actively harmful to people with those problems.
So we agree that the song touches on a lot of legitimate complains. What’s your problem? That a man living in a trailer doesn’t have policy written out on how to address these?
What ‘implied recommendations’?? You’re just making this shit up now. He’s observing problems, I think the likely reason you hate it is because of how he looks, and you assume he’s a MAGA hillbilly.
There’s nothing wrong with music, that generally has more appeal to the right to talk about issues that affect an average person.
I’m a big believer that if you want to see the issues affecting working class, you listen to the music that they listen to. Rap has been talking about the issues with cyclical poverty since the 80’s, has been talking about gang violence, has been talking about drug addiction. It was ignored, and now look at what’s happening 40 years later, crazy crime issues, cyclical poverty and absurd drug addiction killing hundreds of thousands and ruining tens of millions of lives. Did they have policies drawn up? No, they just saw issues and made music about them.
Why can’t someone with a more bluegrass vibe do the same? He’s seeing issues that he’s personally experienced and y’all freak out because you don’t like the way he looks.
He’s blaming these problems on “rich men north of Richmond” aka Washington DC, it’s not a stretch to think about the policy implications. And what are the policies he mentions? Taxes being too high and welfare benefits being too generous. Again, not exactly a stretch to see the implied recommendation is tax cuts and welfare state cuts, pretty much the core planks of the Republican Party platform.
I definitely agree listening to the music people make and listen to can be a good way to gain insight. Really my problem with the song is the opposite of what you imply - I don’t wish he had policies drawn up at all, it’s the extent to which he does reveal policy preferences here that I have a problem with. Not that this guy is necessarily a piece of shit or anything, it’s just that what’s being revealed about him through this music is the undercurrent of conservative ideology that is the water in which he swims and which he’s unconsciously reproducing in this song.
He’s mad because DC is the capitol and not Richmond.
Okay, I’ll play along with your assumptions of this guys policy proposals based on a 3 minute song that just talks about observing common issues.
No, he says taxes too high for him, a working class man. Don’t you agree? Do you think someone making 60k/year should be paying 25% taxes when the politicians making 10x that amount are paying 10%?
Really? He said ‘we have too much welfare’? No - he says that there are a ton of people starving, who aren’t getting welfare, but then we have people abusing the system getting that funding. The people that need funding aren’t getting it, do you agree or disagree?
No, your lens of how you perceive him, make you believe he’s saying these things that he’s not.
Good, your wish came true, he doesn’t mention any policies, but that’s your problem, that he didn’t and now you can assume his policy proposals, you’re ridiculous.
Once again, he doesn’t. You assume based on the music he’s playing and the way he looks. You’re just being prejudiced.
So you’re saying you perceive him as a piece of shit because your assumptions of his policy proposals that are based on your assumptions of one line that he’s saying in a vacuum?
Honestly, if you only respond to one thing, can you please answer this question: Do you honestly think you have 0 bias in your interpretations of his song because of how he appears and the type of music he’s playing?
Hey man just want to say sorry for all the hate and stupiduty in this comment section. Fully expecting to get down voted with you here. I’ve seen lots of great opinions and comments and communities here on lemmy so far… and also… some pretty bad ones …
Stop being lazy. You’re asking others to do the work for you seem then you’re going to sound based on their summary. Read the article like the rest of us and you’ll be on the same page.
Redirecting justifiable anger at the overclass to the underclass is classic right wing “populism”. It’s very popular with the billionaires pulling your strings.
And then redirecting anger that should go to the overclass to the underclass. The bottom line is that his song will help trick people into giving rich people get more gigantic GOP tax cuts and increase wealth inequality.
The song is undermined by those lines; if they aren’t dog whistles, they may as well be.