Rich Men

A new song is beginning to hit the world by storm, and it’s not by Jason Aldean. A former factory worker going by stage name Oliver Anthony blew up on TikTok this week with his song “Rich Men North of Richmond.” I’ll save you a detour to the Maps app- as assumed, he’s talking about Washington D.C.

There’s a good chance you’ve seen the video by now- Anthony, 31, a man with a prominent red beard, plucking his resonator guitar next to a condenser mic and belting out his emotions in a rural outdoor setting. Don’t let this Country music trope fool you. He’s not some bland pop star out looking for a buck, from what I can tell. In fact, it’s obvious he’s not trying out for The Voice, either, and that’s why people are entranced by the seemingly genuine quality of his lyrics. “I’ve been selling my soul, working all day. Overtime hours, for bullshit pay.” The working class have related to those words, and more importantly, the ones to blame for them. “’Cause your dollar ain’t shit and it’s taxed to no end, ‘cause of rich men north of Richmond.” That’s right- no subtlety here. He’s striking back at our governing body. They tax our income. They tax what we spend. They tax what they’ve taxed, and then tax it again. Inflation and corporate greed are running amok through our country, devastating the economy and wiping out the savings of the middle class, while our bloated congress sits back and lies about where our money goes. It’s not going to the little people…that much we know. And those people are tired. Fed up (pun intended). Angry. In this way, they are united.

The truth of the matter is we have the technology and capability to create a utopia only found within science fiction. And as long as those in power choose to engineer the hierarchy…the division...the recession…the famine…in fiction it will remain.