Maybe, It’s Time to ‘Eat the Rich’

The country singer, writer, and all around boat rocker, Oliver Anthony is surely a household name by now. His real name is Christopher Anthony Lunsford, and unless you’re rich beyond the pale, now is the time to hear him out and really listen to this little ditty, Rich Men North of Richmond, word for word. This is a political fight song with the vocal ferocity of Janis Joplin and the storytelling of Bob Dylan, and, like both, Anthony has hit a nerve with the American public and apparently the world.

Anthony explains his take on why his song has become such a hit. He starts by telling us that Republicans and Fox specifically crossed the line when they included his song in the recent GOP presidential debate. Anthony responded, taking them to task for debating a song about themselves. They apparently did not know this, and thus the arrogance of the rich politicians and media giants backfired.

Anthony made it clear the song was not only about them but all politicians. I would add, even under-paid municipal politicians, who get rich after their elections. (How the eff does that happen?)

By and large, the rich in America are nothing like wealthy folks of the past, who gave us libraries, medical centers, and museums. The rich no longer invest in the public good. It’s all about themselves, and it starts with the politicians, far-right Republicans expecting us to continue voting against our best interests, Democrats expecting us to vote for lame politicians, and almost everything in between. Those are the rich men north of Richmond, Virginia.

It includes corporations and their lobbyists, and rich men, like Elon Musk, who has essentially taken over and profited off the work of NASA with SpaceX. It includes your state politicians, who meet north of Richmond for their political pow-wows, and it includes your local commissioners or municipal councils, which have money, but somehow seem to forget to budget for the poor.

In general, the public is weary of seeing the titans, the super-wealthy, shake their stuff while we watch from our living rooms, as though their mortal godships should have us quaking in our shoes, praising and worshipping their money and hoping to rub shoulders with them one day. But rubbing shoulders does not bring wealth.

Making money, however, does bring wealth. The economy is about income and wages. Wealth inequality is about having too much of that single source of livelihood, income, concentrated in the hands of a few. It’s part of what brings on poverty. Another part is the role politicians take by withholding help via government policy that vilifies the poor.

The bottom line is that the rich don’t get taxed enough. They don’t give back, and they relish the division between the poor and the rest of us. They call the rest of us “rental people,” I swear they do, but as long as we fight amongst ourselves, like they want, we won’t get anywhere. (Even Sarah Palin suggested a civil war to solve our problems, stupid politician that she is.)

We don’t need an America (and a world) where some fly out into space on their own dimes, while millions lack the money to afford the basic necessities of life. IMHO, we need a world like the one discussed by John Lennon in Imagine. Peace. Income inequality has no place in America, and we can achieve something approaching peace with a lot less income inequality.

Thank you, Anthony, for bringing this issue to the forefront. Maybe, it’s time now to eat the rich!

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Below are the lyrics and the song by Anthony.

“Rich Men North Of Richmond” Lyrics

I’ve been sellin’ my soul, workin’ all day
Overtime hours for bullshit pay
So I can sit out here and waste my life away
Drag back home and drown my troubles away

It’s a damn shame what the world’s gotten to
For people like me and people like you
Wish I could just wake up and it not be true
But it is, oh, it is

Livin’ in the new world
With an old soul
These rich men north of Richmond
Lord knows they all just wanna have total control
Wanna know what you think, wanna know what you do
And they don’t think you know, but I know that you do
‘Cause your dollar ain’t shit and it’s taxed to no end
‘Cause of rich men north of Richmond

I wish politicians would look out for miners
And not just minors on an island somewhere
Lord, we got folks in the street, ain’t got nothin’ to eat
And the obese milkin’ welfare

Well, God, if you’re 5-foot-3 and you’re 300 pounds
Taxes ought not to pay for your bags of fudge rounds
Young men are puttin’ themselves six feet in the ground
‘Cause all this damn country does is keep on kickin’ them down

Lord, it’s a damn shame what the world’s gotten to
For people like me and people like you
Wish I could just wake up and it not be true
But it is, oh, it is

Livin’ in the new world
With an old soul
These rich men north of Richmond
Lord knows they all just wanna have total control
Wanna know what you think, wanna know what you do
And they don’t think you know, but I know that you do
‘Cause your dollar ain’t shit and it’s taxed to no end
‘Cause of rich men north of Richmond

I’ve been sellin’ my soul, workin’ all day
Overtime hours for bullshit pay