OK. I’ll do it.
I don’t like to write about every twist and turn in the U.S. news… I don’t usually even like to watch the U.S. news.
But readers are always asking me for my thoughts on the latest things happening back home…
And the viral hit “Rich Men North Of Richmond” has got me thinking…
In case you’re living on the moon, “Rich Men North Of Richmond” is blue-collar Virginia man Oliver Anthony’s song about his life “selling his soul” for “bullsh*t pay” thanks to “rich men north of Richmond” who “want to control” the lives of everyday Americans…
Back in July, nobody had ever heard of Oliver Anthony. Today, you can’t get away from commentary—from both left and right—on his country song and what its success says about the state of America…
Within days of its release, “Rich Men North Of Richmond” went viral on social media and was a hit on music streaming platforms—and then it debuted at #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.
Conservative commentator Matt Walsh praised it as the protest song of a generation—and he was far from the only one.
The song was even brought up by the moderators in the first Republican presidential debate. The Republican candidates were asked, “Why is this song striking such a nerve in this country right now?”
Oliver Anthony responded to that moment by saying he found it “funny” that all these elite politicians were trying to say they were in the same struggle as him… because he wrote the song “about the people on that stage.”
Start Your New Life Today, Overseas
You’re Getting Screwed
I’m certainly in there with Anthony when he suggests that politicians in both parties are the problem. When he calls out the very elites who are causing the problems but are trying to claim they’re on his side…
The politicians are not on your side.
I’ve been saying forever that both parties are as bad as each other—and if you’re looking for a politician to come along and save the country, that’s a lost cause.
And I think, for what it’s worth, that Anthony’s song is right about many of the things that’ve gone wrong in America…
Politicians will always, always, take as much power for themselves as they can—they do “want to have total control.”
Your hard-earned dollars are “taxed to no end” as Anthony puts it in his song, and there are plenty of people in the country who don’t want to work and are just “milkin’ welfare.”
I see it every time I’m back in the States—people refusing to work or do the same jobs that their parents and grandparents did… living off of a generous welfare state that other people’s taxes are paying for…
Meanwhile, the health of the average American gets worse and worse—the “three hundred pound” “obese” Anthony sings about…
I wrote just recently: “I haven’t checked the statistics, but my observational experience suggests that better than 70% of people in this country are overweight and half those are excessively overweight.”
Life expectancy in America has dropped—at the sharpest rate in 100 years.
People are dying younger in America, while in most of the rest of the world we’re living longer and longer lives…
No wonder Anthony’s song is striking a chord.
I wrote a decade ago that America “is on a path of self-destruction that it’s probably too late now to avoid.”
Every time I return to the States the problems just seem to be worse and worse…
Take Back Control
But here’s where I’m going to say something controversial…
There’s something about the whole situation that Oliver Anthony—and all the commentators and prognosticators—are missing…
No matter what’s going on in Washington, D.C…. no matter what the “rich men north of Richmond” try to put on you…
You can still take control of your life.
But, You must take control of your own life. Now’s the time.
I know it feels safe to sit within the herd… To feel comforted by thoughts of “We’re all in this together” and “Everyone else is hurting, too.” To sing a protest song rather than make a bold choice.
Please believe me: that is a dangerous boat to be in. A sinking boat, in fact.
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Stay diversified,
Lief Simon
Editor, Offshore Living Letter
