US Calling: A ballad about rich men, the cancel culture, probe against Elon Musk and BTS

“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 (expletive) and it’s taxed to no end / ‘Cause of rich men north of Richmond”s.

Anthony’s lyrics are visceral, about the hopelessness of working-class life,

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.

Unemployment under President Biden is at an all time low, yet there’s a sense of hopelessness. Democrat Senator Murphy has said that there’s “a realignment afoot out there in America that is not recognised by the elites. Tackling this needs a special effort“. Most Americans feel that dismissing the things that the Oliver Anthony’s anthem highlights is a “lost opportunity” especially in view of the “cancel culture” pervading the US, where most hesitate to talk unless they are 110 percent in alignment with acceptable social mores.

The cancel culture 

“Cancel culture”, is a term used in American social media and refers to the public and social media backlash suffered by a celebrity or public figure who does or says something offensive or unacceptable. To ‘cancel’ the person can result in them being shunned, or ostracised with consequences and impact their career and finances through boycotts of their work, or products they endorse. For example, Kanye West got cancelled in the wake of his anti-Semitic remarks and lost sponsorships with Adidas and Gap.

Anthony also writes about the skewed focus of the political elites and the media,

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

The reference here appears to be to the Jeffrey Epstein Grand Jury investigation taking up resources which could perhaps have been used for public welfare, like increasing the Federal minimum wage, nutrition assistance programs, health care, affordable housing and transport. However, the folks north of Richmond, are clearly not listening.

Musk under the lens 

The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) continues to expend resources on what are widely seen as political investigations. Elon Musk’s $44 billion purchase of Twitter (now X) was followed by leaked “Twitter Files” and allegations of systematic collusion between the Biden campaign and Twitter. Now the Justice Department (DOJ) has initiated a federal investigation into the construction of a “glass house” in Austin for Tesla CEO Elon Musk using Tesla Funds. Musk is worth 248.8 billion USD and supports over 110000 jobs directly and many more in the supply chains for his companies. The investigation comes on the heels of yet another Justice Department investigation, into SpaceX alleging that the company “routinely discouraged asylees and refugees from applying and refused to hire or consider them, because of their citizenship status, in violation of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA). SpaceX holds that “US export control laws” and International Traffic in Arms Regulations require it to hire US citizens or at least green card holders as rockets are considered advanced weapons technology. The Justice Department holds these laws impose no such restrictions and have sought, back pay for asylees and refugees deterred, and civil penalties for SpaceX. More work for Alex Spiro attorney for Musk but does it help the “….folks in the street, aint got nothin to eat….” is perhaps arguable.

‘Seven’ on a high

And staying with the Billboard charts to round off the week’s news from the United States, “Seven” the solo single of vocalist Jeon Jung Kook of Korean boy band BTS ( Bangtan Boys), has notched up 5 weeks at the top of the Billboard Global 200 and Billboard Global Excl US Charts (dated Aug 26Th) based on streaming and sales activity and over 100 million views on YouTube. South Korea supports their young cultural ambassadors: BTS members are Special United Nations Presidential Envoys, UNICEF Ambassadors, and met President Biden in May 2022 to discuss “Asian Representation and anti-Asian Hate Crimes and Disinformation”. Sidhu Moosewala was the first ever Punjabi artist to make it to the Billboard Global 200 Charts with his song 295 ranked 154th on Billboard Global 200. Let’s look forward to the day an Indian band or soloist makes it to the Billboard charts soon.

The writer is a former IRS officer, presently in the US