Aug 16, 2023·edited Aug 16, 2023Liked by Birrion Sondahl
Of course, I doubt it was Anthony's intention to write an anti-capitalist classic. But it's too bad that he put in a line that will automatically make him a Nazi in the eyes of the liberals..... most of whom won't appreciate the main sentiment. Since I added a comment on Bill Astore's article, I'll just repost it here, FWIW.
I did notice that Oliver Anthony’s song is being portrayed in media as a Right Wing rallying call. Unfortunately, he's got the main part right... he just slipped in a slap at welfare 'queens' and that was enough for the purveyors of the culture war to jump on it to make sure that the sides stay at war.
Of course, that one unfortunate attack (unfortunate as it's on fellow poor, and it just feeds the cultural divide) has been part of the culture war for some time. The working class has long been primed to see all welfare recipients as 'cheats'... stealing their hard earned pay. After all it was Bill Clinton who helped in that stigmatization, with his declared intent to "end Welfare as we know it".. Raw meat for the troops, I suppose.
So Anthony, even as he has part of the story right, allows his programming to help the very people he really was targeting in the main- the rich who benefit from underpaid labor of the peons. Again, this isn't surprising- however missed an opportunity it was to help build solidarity with other victims of Reverse Robin-Hoodism.
BTW, " Scratch a liberal and a fascist bleeds" - I love it! And Ochs' "Love Me I'm A Liberal" has long been a favorite... I often post links to it to emphasize the point.
Once you see how our income-based laborforce really works (the fact that high profits depend on low wages), then you’ll finally understand why a digital system matching people to jobs, resources to communities, and daily production, consumption, and waste management operations to personal and professional demands is actually more sustainable and ethical than today’s global political economy, mainly because, compared to scientific-capitalism, scientific-socialism is a lot more democratic; it values and views our very basic, very intuitive belief “universal protections for all” as both a human need and an environmental right.
Thank you, Birrion. Great list of songs! I'm a huge Phil Ochs fan so I was happy to see you include one of his.
Of course, I doubt it was Anthony's intention to write an anti-capitalist classic. But it's too bad that he put in a line that will automatically make him a Nazi in the eyes of the liberals..... most of whom won't appreciate the main sentiment. Since I added a comment on Bill Astore's article, I'll just repost it here, FWIW.
I did notice that Oliver Anthony’s song is being portrayed in media as a Right Wing rallying call. Unfortunately, he's got the main part right... he just slipped in a slap at welfare 'queens' and that was enough for the purveyors of the culture war to jump on it to make sure that the sides stay at war.
Of course, that one unfortunate attack (unfortunate as it's on fellow poor, and it just feeds the cultural divide) has been part of the culture war for some time. The working class has long been primed to see all welfare recipients as 'cheats'... stealing their hard earned pay. After all it was Bill Clinton who helped in that stigmatization, with his declared intent to "end Welfare as we know it".. Raw meat for the troops, I suppose.
So Anthony, even as he has part of the story right, allows his programming to help the very people he really was targeting in the main- the rich who benefit from underpaid labor of the peons. Again, this isn't surprising- however missed an opportunity it was to help build solidarity with other victims of Reverse Robin-Hoodism.
BTW, " Scratch a liberal and a fascist bleeds" - I love it! And Ochs' "Love Me I'm A Liberal" has long been a favorite... I often post links to it to emphasize the point.
Once you see how our income-based laborforce really works (the fact that high profits depend on low wages), then you’ll finally understand why a digital system matching people to jobs, resources to communities, and daily production, consumption, and waste management operations to personal and professional demands is actually more sustainable and ethical than today’s global political economy, mainly because, compared to scientific-capitalism, scientific-socialism is a lot more democratic; it values and views our very basic, very intuitive belief “universal protections for all” as both a human need and an environmental right.