Oliver Anthony’s Critics from the Left, the Right, and the Religious

The lyrics are here.

He laments how he and people like him are working to the point of exhaustion for little pay, only to be hit by inflation and taxes.  The “rich men north of Richmond”–a great rhyme, by the way–which is where the Washington, D.C. metroplex begins, are not only exploiting him, they are trying to control him.

This is a song of frustration and alienation, which is leading many to alcohol and drug abuse, to intentional or unintentional suicide:

Young men are puttin’ themselves six feet in the ground
‘Cause all this damn country does is keep on kickin’ them down.

Progressives are dismissing the song, with an abundance of snark, as a “right wing anthem.”  (See for example, this.)  I find that astonishing and extremely revealing about what has happened to the left.

This is a song from the working class!  It’s a plea for social justice!  The working man is condemning his exploitation by the rich!

That used to be the bread and butter of leftwing activists, though their rhetoric was often far less authentic than what we hear from this beaten-down man pouring his heart out.

What is the left’s objection?  Well, they say it’s racist, of course, though it says nothing about race.  They apparently assume the obese welfare recipients that both Anthony so much are black, but there are lots of obese white people on welfare, so the charge actually smacks of the critics’ racism.

The fact is, black Americans are putting out supportive rap remixes of “Rich Men North of Richmond” that are equally anguished and passionate.  Listen to Black Pegasus:

And to MarineRapper:

The left used to be on the side of the working class, to the point of saying that racism was just a bourgeois tactic to divide white workers and black workers, keeping them from realizing that they have common problems and interests, mainly that they are both exploited by “rich men.”

No more.  Progressivism has abandoned its earlier focus on economic class in favor of identity politics.  Today’s leftist would sympathize with the black working class, but most emphatically not the white working class.  In the sort of classist condescension they used to condemn, they look down their noses at those country-music loving deplorables, those uneducated supporters of Donald Trump to whom they are so much socially superior.

But there is some good news in the new bourgeois left’s contempt for the working class.  Maybe we don’t have to worry about communism any more.  The left has no stomach for Karl Marx, with his class struggle and promised revolution.  Today’s progressive utopia may be similarly totalitarian, but it won’t overthrow the rich, the middle class, or those who are in control, since it’s the leftists who have attained that social and economic power.

(By the way, Anthony has just slammed Republicans for “weaponizing” his song.  Describing his own politics as being right down the center, he said that everyone on the stage at the G.O.P. debate, where a clip of his song was played, is one of those people his song is about, namely, rich men north of Richmond.  To reiterate, the song is about social class, not politics. But his larger point is that “government can’t save us.”)

Leftists are also criticizing these lines:

I wish politicians would look out for miners
And not just minors on an island somewhere.

The allusion, of course, is to “rich man” Jeffrey Epstein and his private island where he hosted rich and powerful guests to have sex with underaged girls.  To progressive critics, this smacks of the pro-Trump conspiracy theory Qanon, with its pedophile villains.  This is also the left’s criticism of the crowd-sourced hit movie Sound of Freedom, about a man who works to liberate children who are the victims of sex traffickers.

Now you do not have to believe in Qanon or support Donald Trump to be concerned about Jeffrey Epstein and the sex trafficking of children.  Do the critics believe that Epstein was innocent?  Do they deny that children are being trafficked?  Perhaps the left has a problem of denialism when it comes to child sexual abuse, similar to 9-11 denialism.

Ironically,  Oliver Anthony and his song are also being criticized by some conservatives.  (See, for example, this.)  If you’re complaining about “bullsh*t” pay, you just need to get a better job!  America is the land of opportunity!  Pull yourself up by your own bootstraps!  Stop complaining!

It just isn’t easy for someone in small town rural America to just get another job.  All of the available jobs where you live probably pay about the same.

So move to the city! Move north of Richmond and you too can be a rich man!

Well, he doesn’t have the Ivy League degrees that are so prized north of Richmond.  And H.R. directors in the tech industry would have no place for him.  And he just wouldn’t fit in with the Georgetown social scene.

Yes, factories in some parts of the country are hiring.  But moving isn’t easy. If you are lucky enough to own your own home in rural America–maybe because you inherited it from your grandparents–you can’t just sell it.  There is hardly anyone in your rural small town who can buy it.  But if you could go to the city–as many have, with the population in rural areas depleting–you would be leaving behind your extended family, your friends, your dogs, the beautiful countryside that is the backdrop of Anthony’s video,  and your roots behind. That too comes at a high emotional cost.  (Listen to another, older, cry of the heart on that subject from another country singer, the great Bobby Bare, entitled Detroit City.)

Besides, Anthony did the equivalent of getting a better job and taking advantage of America as the land of opportunity.  He wrote and performed a song and put it on YouTube!  He reportedly received an offer from a record company worth $8 million.  And turned it down!  Money, for him, isn’t the point!

The point is that the rich men north of Richmond make him feel that he has no value–that’s what the paycheck symbolizes–that he is worthless, looked down upon, disrespected.  And the critics are proving him right.

Finally, Anthony and his song are being criticized by some evangelical Christians!  Christianity Today published an article entitled Oliver Anthony’s Viral Hit Doesn’t Love Its Neighbors.  This is because he is “disdainful” towards people on welfare.

But he explicitly shows sympathy for people in need:  “Lord, we got folks in the street, ain’t got nothin’ to eat.”  His problem is with people “milkin’ welfare.”  He contrasts people who actually “ain’t got nothin’ to eat” with those who are “obese” and using their food stamps to eat “Fudge Rounds,” his point being that they don’t need the welfare, while other people genuinely go hungry.

But that’s not the point either.  Rich men north of Richmond keep conveying the sense that he and his kind are bad people.  They are racist, sexist, homophobic, gun-owning, right wing, etc., etc., etc.  And they keep finding new crimes for which he is guilty.  Here he is “fat-shaming.”

Christians do have a record of rendering uncharitable moral judgements on other people, and now–even though the rich men north of Richmond think we too are deplorable for the same reasons Anthony is–some of us are piling on.  Anthony at least admits he is a sinner, and has been telling about his abuse of alcohol and drugs and how he has turned to God for deliverance.

Instead of moralistically tut-tutting his shortcomings (other Christians are condemning him for the song’s foul language), we Christians should love our neighbor by showing Oliver Anthony and people like him a little sympathy!

Photo via YouTube