Most of the crap that briefly bobs to the surface of the human sewer that is "the internet n' social media" is best ignored, so when a song by a flabby-looking kid with a fuzzy red beard about how "oppressed" Murcans were by "paedophiles" started going viral, I went for the mute button.
Now, as the meme cools into a cold puddle of dry sick, it is worth perhaps at least a cursory glance to see what we can learn from its errant popularity about the state of the American nation.
The song, which is done in a cringe-worthy "earnest" country style, purports to be a passionate "democratic" cri de cœur about how set upon "poor wittle Murcans" are:
"I've been sellin' my soul, workin' all dayOvertime hours for bullshit paySo I can sit out here and waste my life awayDrag back home and drown my troubles away"
Yeh, it sucks having to work for a living doesn't it? Have another Bud-Lite, bro.
But thanks to the American Empire, the petro-dollar, fiat currency, stimulus spending, and a massive trade imbalance, Murcans aren't really doing too badly. In fact, they have rather inflated wages ($77,463 on average) compared to the rest of the World, and all for the little they actually produce.
"Livin' in the new worldWith an old soulThese rich men north of RichmondLord knows they all just wanna have total controlWanna know what you think, wanna know what you do...
Yes, poor whittle Murcans! Their elites actually want to know what they think. Isn't that essence of a democracy? LOL
Then we get the lazy lie about the "poors" (average wage $77,463) being taxed till their eyes bleed by evil rich guys:
Actually, no. As usual, it's the rich, productive people who pay most of the tax:
Then we get the lazy lie about the "poors" (average wage $77,463) being taxed till their eyes bleed by evil rich guys:
...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"
Actually, no. As usual, it's the rich, productive people who pay most of the tax:
For instance, the top slice includes the nation's roughly 900,000 households that earn $1 million or more a year. As a group, they are projected to pay $772 billion in federal income taxes for 2022, or 39% of all federal income taxes, according to a projection from the Joint Committee on Taxation.By comparison, there are 29 million U.S. households with annual income between $50,000 to $75,000. That group is expected to provide the federal government with about $44 billion in taxes, or 2.2% of the total pie, the analysis found.
Also, much of that tax money is pumped into government spending that creates tens of millions of rather well-paid jobs, most of which are not strictly necessary, for ordinary Americans.
What else has this crappy critique got?
I wish politicians would look out for minersAnd not just minors on an island somewhereLord, we got folks in the street, ain't got nothin' to eatAnd the obese milkin' welfare
Yes, Pizzagate being rehashed (paging Mr Nowicki!).
Actually, the research shows that most paedoing is done by poor losers, who, coincidentally seem to be the exact same people who have an inordinate desire to blame the rich, successful for it:
Child sexual abusers are often characterized as exhibiting poor social skills, having feelings of inadequacy or loneliness, having greater sexual problems or being passive in relationships (Cortoni & Marshall, 2001; Groth, 1979; Maniglio, 2012; Marshall, 1993; Whitaker et al., 2008). They differ from rapists with respect to thought processes and affect, and often describe their offending behaviors as uncontrollable, stable and internal; whereas rapists attribute their offenses to external, unstable and controllable causes (Garlick, Marshall & Thorton, 1996).
"Well, God, if you're 5-foot-3 and you're 300 poundsTaxes ought not to pay for your bags of fudge roundsYoung men are puttin' themselves six feet in the ground'Cause all this damn country does is keep on kickin' them down"
Nothing to say here, except look at a picture of this pudgy, slovenly, saggy-arsed motherfucker, who's still in his 20s:
No doubt he uses his guitar to hide his moobs and his neckbeard to conceal his double chin.
The rest of the song just repeats, so there you have it!
But what does this concoction of cringe tell us about overprivileged pampered Murcans? Just that all that privilege and pampering has made a great many of them into weak, little runts who have started to explain away their inability to work hard and resist donuts by mainlining on some sort of nebulous "victimization" narrative that can only exist in the unexamined lyrics of a crappy country song.
PS: I'm not saying America can't be critiqued, but this is definitely not the way to do it.
PS: I'm not saying America can't be critiqued, but this is definitely not the way to do it.
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Colin Liddell is the Chief Editor of Neokrat and the author of Interviews & Obituaries, a collection of encounters with the dead and the famous. Support his work by buying it here (USA), here (UK), and here (Australia).
The paradox of all this is that, while the nationwide averages are good, the most productive parts of America tend to be below $70k, while the least-productive demographics tend to be above it. It’s related to the “smart but poor” essay you posted a while ago.
ReplyDeleteThe taxation rates also look good for the bottom, but inflation and cost of living take a bigger bite. Small businesses can’t weather the same sized storms as bigger ones, and small businesses were hammered during Covid.
Also, Tim Ballard of “Sound of Freedom” fame made a name for himself tackling both the rich and poor pedophiles, so it’s not just Pizzagate anymore…
Good comments, but get a name (even a sock one) next time.
DeleteWe're phasing out unsigned "anonymous" comments.
I agree with the post about this awful song and it's sentiments.
ReplyDeleteHowever, in addition to what the anonymous poster said about taxes in the US and who pays them. We hear very often that the top 10 percent of the population pays the most income taxes. They pay 39 percent - this segment owns 70 percent of the all the wealth in the USA. It also doesn't take into account that the government makes most of it's revenue through sales tax,property taxes, user fees, tolls, vice taxes, and other taxes attached to things as well as those paid by the wealthy but passed along to the consumers and renters. It comes to hundreds of billions and is mostly paid by those in the middle and lower income brackets. Who pay in ratio to their incomes and wealth far more of a percentage. Our tiered system was intended to mitigate this. But it's gotten a little out of wack.
and it takes an army of lower income bracket people to make a wealthy one.
and it may be fiat money- but it's not our fiat money. We wish we could print those Benjamins.
Just putting in the good word for the other 90 percent. Or more accurately the lower and middle parts.
Other than that- I'm glad you said something about this terrible song and the whole formula behind it.