Something that has always befuddled me is how ignorant we are (we as in the collective) about economic systems. In particular, how “socialism” has become a nine-letter four-letter word. Just a mere association of anything (no matter how far removed) to socialism invokes an immediate angry emotion resulting in outright rejection of any thoughts or ideas that came before its mention.
Equal taxation rates equate to socialism, which means bad, evil, must resist at all costs. Labor unions fighting for fair wages — socialistic labor movement — bad, dangerous, evil. Even such things as an infrastructure bill that doesn’t align with certain moneyed interests can be labeled socialistic and therefore must be shot down before it reaches the floor. And now it’s as blatantly opaque as a mere political figure associated with the opposing party accused of being a socialist, well, just because.
After more than a century of demonization “Socialism” has become the Manchurian Candidate code word that triggers all manner of vitriol. Just stand on a street corner and shout the word with anger and watch how many people will honk for you. But then if you hold a sign saying “Honk for Socialism” people will throw things at you along with a number of actual four-letter words.
But then I caught myself doing the same thing. Not with the nine-letter four-letter word, but rather with a singer/songwriter popularly known as Oliver Anthony who recently exploded on the scene with his song Rich Men North of Richmond.
The morning following the Republican presidential debates and Trump’s fourth indictment I was eagerly sifting through my feed searching for deeper perspectives when I caught a short piece about Marjorie Taylor Green celebrating Oliver Anthony’s new song trending on YouTube. I won’t tell you what I think about Greene, except to say I don’t have a warm and fuzzy feeling for her. So, when she celebrated Oliver’s song my Manchurian Candidate code word was triggered, in this case the word being her name.
I clicked the link to watch the video, and while Oliver’s singing was powerful and the words poignant, I couldn’t even watch it to the end because I couldn’t stop thinking of how Greene, her vitriol, her racist undertones, and enthusiastic supporters are interpreting this song as a rally cry for their cause. So, I judged Oliver Anthony, the bearded ginger white man from the South, merely by conflating him in with Greene and her followers.
Then a few days later I saw a post on LinkedIn showing reactions from a diverse group of people responding to Oliver’s song with passion and resonance and I caught myself in the act of judgement. As soon as I caught myself I released the judgement and went from Manchurian Candidate code word trigger, to acceptance and embracing.
In fact, there is an energy to his signing that reminds me of ceremony. Countless times in the teepee and sweat lodge I’ve felt the energy of Spirit coming through the songs in powerfully profound ways. I can hear that kind of energy coming from the voices of the late Aretha Franklin and Tina Turner, and some of those tear-jerking America’s Got Talent clips we so often see on social media. It’s those times when we feel the energy of the voice deep in our bones, and in those moments we find ourselves moved.
This is what Oliver Anthony has accomplished with his song Rich Men North of Richmond.
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