I’m pretty sure he’s not hating on welfare as a whole, just people who are using it who don’t need it. I know a handful of people who under report earnings just so they can get food stamps and take advantage of other government programs.
He’s right though, the song is basically saying “life is hard for conservative cishet white men because of the got dang politicians taxing us”, and that’s a fundamentally reactionary view of the world.
If you want recommendations for good, actually working class country songs, might I recommend Woodie Guthrie? Or Peggy Seeger? They’re a little more on the folk side, but they’re really good.
I lean about as far left as you can go and the song resonates with me. I thought the song was a little deeper, talking about how the rich men (I’m assuming politicians) aren’t looking out for people. I feel like saying the song is only about taxes is taking a lot away from it. He talks on important issues like homelessness, male suicide rates, and that no one pays a living wage.
Edit: I’m not hating on people who use welfare, earlier I just stated what I thought he meant in his song by the phrase “milking welfare” to mean people who do not currently need it, using it.
No, not because his ideas and beliefs don’t align with mine. In fact a lot of what I have seen does fall in line with mine, but because I haven’t actually read up on most of his ideas in detail, I’ve just casually heard about them.
Edit: lmao I thought you meant Andrew Yang before I googled that term
As far left as you can go, huh? I’d suggest trying to push that envelope a little bit. Instead of being disappointed/mad/sad that rich people aren’t looking out for other people, try asking why rich people exist in the first place? Where did their wealth come from? And should they be allowed to keep it?
I don’t know why other people are giving you a hard time. I’m about as far left as you can go as well. This is absolutely a far-left song. This is the kind of thing Mao would have played when liquidating landlords or Stalin would have used as a soundtrack to confiscating Kulak farms.
This is probably the anthem of the far left and I’m glad you, as a fellow far leftist, enjoy it.
hang on, I get it but we have an opportunity to make some inroads here, immediately dragging up the most controversial possible issue doesn’t really serve us
Consider this perspective: People work for seven, ten, fifteen dollars an hour. The companies they work for - Walmart, Kroger, Amazon, McDonalds - have a bottom line that amounts to hundreds of dollars per employee hour. Welfare is paid for by taxes that everyone pays (except corporations, who have the lowest tax rates of any entity, including the poor) and inflates the effective income of these low wage folks to maybe twenty an hour.
Through this lens, welfare transfers income from middle and lower class people to only lower class people to keep them barely floating above destitution, while most of the actual profits that the working classes produce with their labor go into corporate coffers, upper class stock holders, and executive’s pockets. Welfare is a corporate bailout because it means corporations can pay less to workers and the difference is made up for by the working class.
When we think like this, there are 2 very natural conclusions:
Anything that anyone can get through welfare is legitimate, because anyone eligible for it is so screwed over by corporations that they deserve whatever they can get
Welfare as a system is built to favor the rich, and ultimately needs to be replaced by a system that favors the poor and funds the necessities of everyone from those who have benefitted the most from everyone else’s work (corporations and the wealthy)
Here’s 54 acres of undeveloped land in the town he lives in for $475K. He could parcel his 90 acres ($792k at this rate, and by far not the most expensive lot per acre I found when browsing), build a 5000 sq. foot home with a 3 car garage with 100% contractor labor, and keep 20 acres to have it on.
That is more than your typical working class individual but what was the overall point you were trying to make? He currently lives in a camper, he could sell it all and have a decent home but he hasn’t. Are you implying he’s only posing as a working class man because of the potential wealth he has in his land? I’m just not understanding the point you are chasing after here.
This is wonderful! Great song and a great cover for a skilled acoustic duet like RyG.
I happened to be into them before they were cool. Saw them in a small venue (not on Ireland or Mexico, they were turing), where I’m not sure any of us knew who they were. But we were all blown away by their skill. Next time they came back to the country they played the big stadium in town (probably the peak of their popularity?)
Hello. I’m reclusive author and rock historian Thomas Pynchon. side-eye-1side-eye-2
I started writing a history of punk rock over on Hexbear back in April. Since we just federated with y’all, I thought I’d share what I’ve done so far. The most recent entry, along with a compendium of all 24 other entries (as of this comment) is over on Hexbear if you want more.
working in his new office with a Spotify-curated playlist on in the background. “About six songs in I realised: ‘Wait a minute, I recognise that sound.’” “That’s the first time since founding the company that harpejji music came to my ears randomly without me seeking it out,” he says. “Now I truly feel like it’s got a life of its own.”
That’s a cool story … to have something you made be taken up by artists you’ve never heard of.
check wassabi guy comments, he edited them, so maybe there he has added any relevant explanations. (haven’t checked his last comments edits by myself yet)
the song represents reactionary recuperation of revolutionary aesthetic, stripped of radical solidarity.
it is pandering to the reactionary worship of ‘rebellion’ as a self-evident virtue, but the shallow analysis is crafted to manipulate populist outrage against individual actors without addressing the systemic factors which have lead us to this place.
it bitches about “obese” folks “milking welfare,” and promotes the Proto-fascist conspiracies regarding ‘costal elites.’
Don’t you take the song too serious? Why average guy song should contain real reasons of happening? It is just song of random guy who feel some struggles in society and sharing it with others in a way he understands it, no?
You can explain why it is have to be reactionary thing that promotes some dark age ideas.
Ps wekfare obesity stuff not 100% clear to me, maybe too usa specific.
how seriously I approach ‘art’ is my prerogative. If one is not comfortable with criticism, they should keep their thoughts to themselves.
how do you reconcile a position which claims to care about folks without enough to eat, with the line complaining about welfare (food assistance)?
It isn’t even critical of the capital-owning class or the oppressive heirarchy which protects the institution of private capital, just an ephemeral ‘rich man up north’ (this is a reactionary dogwhistle, if you’re not familiar with the US)
I think you’re not taking art (and I use this term loosely here) seriously enough.
everything is political, especially to those not in the priveledged position to pretend aloof detachment holds any value whatsoever.
how seriously I take a work of art is my prerogative. If one is not comfortable with criticism, they should keep their thoughts to themsef.
Totally not, you are broking logic here. If you cannot control your hysteria, it strange that you expect others to not answer you.
how do you reconcile a position which claims to care about folks without enough to eat, with the line complaining about welfare (food assistance)?
wrong position, but remains popular narrative among working people. If people already struggle with poverty, it is good start to explain reasons of it.
furthermore, it isn’t even critical of the capital-owning class or the system which protects the institution of private capital, just an ephemeral ‘rich man up north’ (this is a reactionary dogwhistle, if you’re not familiar with the US)
not familiar with this “rich man up north” thing, to me it sounds like “rich” in general. Is this real marker of far right anarcho capitalism adepts in usa?
If there is real use of some words or hidden signs of far right usa slang, just share it here and educate others politely, I’m sure people here including me would like to be aware of such things. Any opportunity should be used to educate people.
You had a chance to describe all things wrong about this song to every one. Instead, you were acting as an angry Chihuahua, using big words doubly understanding the meaning of it. You lost my attention here.
You had a chance to describe all things wrong about this song to every one.
I have, with very specific language. you’ve simultaneously accused me of not explaining myself, and of using ‘big words,’ which by your own admission you do not understand. maybe you should focus on understanding my argument before trying to refute my position. attacking me personally, accusing me of anger/ irrationality, is not an effective argument.
your head is so full of neoliberal brain- worms that you cannot recognize a leftist criticism. you’re literally defending bigotry/ reactionary entryism.
are you capable of engaging beyond trying to insult me?
ps: you’re working for the ownership class when you attack the working class. you are literally a tool, upholding oppressive heirarchies which weaken our capacity to wield collective power and achieve liberation from the rich you claim to be so concerned with
Get out of your echo chambers some time. I can tell you’re smart but you never talk or listen to anyone outside of the first viewpoint you heard. I was the same way when I was young
It’s a fascinating topic, but my dude is holding up people making $2k per month as examples of how you can make real money writing poop songs. In “dubiously-earned income doing weird things on the internet” terms, that’s a lot more of a mostly-unsmoked cigarette you found in the ashtray than it is a goldrush.
music
Hot
This magazine is from a federated server and may be incomplete. Browse more on the original instance.