It has been two weeks since country singer Oliver Anthony set social media on fire with his song “Rich Men North of Richmond.” The buzz around the populist anthem has still not died down, and the conversation continues about the themes he explored in his song.
Currently, the singer is facing the wrath of folks on both sides of the political divide for refusing to align himself with either camp. But the reality is that perhaps all of us should view the world of politics the way he does: outside of the realm of partisanship.
When the song first rose in the charts, it was widely pilloried by talking heads and social media influencers on the left. You don’t even need to hear the song to know that so-called progressives called it racist because it was sung by a white guy from the South. Several high-profile leftists slammed Anthony, seizing on the song’s reference to welfare, which has to be racist even though most of those using government assistance are white.
But recently, Anthony has taken criticism from his initial conservative fanbase, who lauded him as an avatar giving voice to those who feel alienated by America’s political climate. From this perspective, the singer committed two cardinal sins. First, he made comments in favor of diversity during an interview. He told Fox News that he does not identify as either Team Red or Team Blue and identified as more of a centrist. He then made his remarks about diversity.
“I don’t see our country lasting more than another generation the way we’re headed. We’ve got to go back to the roots of what made this country great in the first place, which was our sense of community,” he said. “We are the melting pot of the world, and that’s what makes us strong, is our diversity. We need to harness that and appreciate it and not use it as a political tool to keep everyone separate from each other.”
Where did Oliver Anthony’s accent go??
— Isabella Riley Moody (@isabellarileyus) August 23, 2023
Also, why is he saying diversity is our strength?
pic.twitter.com/FK7m9Ofnqt
Next, Anthony raised a few eyebrows when he rebuked Republicans for referencing his song at their presidential primary debate on Wednesday. In a video on YouTube, he said he thought it was “funny” that GOP candidates would use his song because it “is written about the people on that stage."
The one thing that has bothered me is seeing people wrap politics up into this. It’s aggravating seeing people on conservative news try to identify with me, like I’m one of them. It’s aggravating seeing certain musicians and politicians act like we’re buddies and act like we’re fighting the same struggle here, like that we’re trying to present the same message.
But here’s the question: Is Anthony not justified in his critiques?
The truth is that both the Republican and Democratic parties have done their part to cause the hardships Anthony croons about in his song. Under the banner of helping the less fortunate, Democrats have imposed policies that have the opposite effect. Instead of uplifting the downtrodden, their policies have only enriched members of the elite ruling class while growing the government into a more intrusive and domineering entity.
On the other side of the coin, we have the Republicans, who incessantly advocate for limited government and shrinking the state while doing absolutely nothing to this end. Their candidates run on a platform of rolling back the power of the federal government; then, once they take office, they govern like Diet Democrats, often going along with the left’s agenda while putting on a show of fighting against it when in front of the cameras. After all, when was the last time the Republican Party shrank the government in a significant way?
Can’t remember? Yeah, me neither.
Anthony’s song is a full-throated condemnation of those members of the ruling class who are causing the problems America faces. His protestations are not related to the letter these folks have next to their names, but to the destruction they are sowing across the country. The popularity of the tune shows that people of all walks of life feel similarly.
But perhaps instead of lambasting the singer for not picking one side of the aisle, we would be better served by realizing that the true battle is about the elites against the rest of us more than it is about right vs. left. As long as we are fixated on defending one party against the other, the Rich Men North of Richmond on Teams Red and Blue will continue amassing more power and money at our expense.
