Definitely not defending Oliver Anthony because aside from this song, don't know donkey about him but take this for what it's worth as a die hard libertarian in the rural south who has also lived in urban areas.
I get how the song is appealing to actual working class people in the south. "Your dollar ain't shit," "overtime hours for bullshit pay," applies to a lot of living conditions here. Employers want college degrees in these areas for $12-15 an hour. Normal people that haven't went to trade school or college because they can't afford it, got pregnant, had to help with bills, etc. have very slim chances of getting one.
There are legitimately people in this area who have always been on top, that now are making 80k+ per year, who still draw food stamps and have medical cards. So yeah, if you're a normal Joe trying to be honest, it sucks dick. Because you spend 60+ hours of your week preparing to/teaching kids who are taught from birth that school is stupid and will never do anything for them, get paid $30k a year, as a good job, and your take home is less than 2000 a month. Houses start at 200k, milk is $5 a gal, gas $3.50, groceries are at an all time high because of profit margins, I get why it resonates with working class people here. If you aren't actively gaming the system (the Welfare hating as critics of the song are calling it) the way 40% of the area does, you're shit out of luck.
Again, don't know anything about the dude, but know a lot about the rural south, and they're underpaid, overworked, and the biggest victims of the government in this country because the government actively keeps a majority of them in learned helplessness and the remainder can't get ahead because with everyone having a medical card or EBT, jobs assume they don't have to pay shit.
I don't think there's a single county in the US where someone making $80k a year qualifies for food stamps. It's indexed to the poverty rate. Do you mean WIC, maybe? That's more universal.
Sounds like the rural South sucks ass. As someone with family from the area, I'd agree it does. They should probably stop voting for the people who want to keep them poor, desperate, dumb, and angry.
Am from rural south and this sounds like bullshit. I'm in a state that "thanks God for Mississippi" and if you make $35k+ here you're not getting much if any in the way of government assistance. But this commenter is a self proclaimed librarian so... Also how is this government victimizing them when they're essentially shopping at the company store? The rich are the ones gaming the tax system and handing that burden to the folks subject to "middle class welfare".
View: "if you aren't actively gaming the system" in my post.
People here intentionally adopt or have children, stay with their spouse for 20+ years while never married, all with the intention of getting multi-thousand dollar tax returns and keeping EBT. The wife doesn't need to work, her husband makes enough to support them. So she has three or more children. Then she's a single mother with no income, as far as the state is concerned, so she gets EBT/Medical Cards, etc.
I know individuals who make between 50k-80k who draw between 700-1300 in food stamps a month because of these arrangements. It's everywhere.
That's idiotic, because it means he can't claim those kids as dependents and is paying far more in taxes every year than they would filing jointly. I could see people doing that for the medicaid, I guess, which is why we need to eliminate income bars for that program and just universalize it, then allow people to buy private health insurance to supplement.
Yeah, he pays more in taxes than he would if they jointly filed. But the money his wife gets back + 700-1000/mo in EBT more than makes up for it. That's basically an extra 20 grand not taxed per year.
Idk how all states do it but in my state if you're "single" with children you can draw anywhere from 600-1200 depending on what you make.
I’m curious where that 40% number comes from. Do you have a source?
Also, while I agree that the feds don’t do enough, the state and city governments are worse, constantly misusing or outright stealing the money the feds do give them. And to that I say it’s the state/city and voters fault for not educating themselves and voting appropriately. I say all this as someone who currently lives in a rural south town. The people are apathetic and the elected leaders take advantage of that. The corruption is astounding.
What's the relevance of "obese" and "300 pounds" people specifically eating gov't fudge when no reference was made to them making $80k or otherwise not being poor?
He is actually just stereotypically misrepresenting the social safety net as being government fudge for fat people. It's fucking stupid. Don't let this be the icon of libertarianism.
If you don't see a problem with:
30-50% of the south being on food stamps and 40% of the south being obese, idk what to tell you man that's just maths.
There is a large percentage of people on food stamps who are healthy, able bodied adults who actively choose to not work and or abuse the safety net. & those people still end up making enough to be obese making those decisions while making the system bogged down to the point where some actually disabled people, with their legs blown off or who cannot process information on the same level because they are mentally deficit, cannot get their disability or someone to take care of them.
Obesity is not a disability. It's either a symptom or a decision.
The only problem with people being on food stamps is that their jobs either aren't paying enough or there aren't enough jobs. But it's 100% excellent that food stamps are available.
If he wants to encourage people to eat healthy then that would be a fine song I guess. But he's talking about restricting snacks for fat people in a song about how rich people are ruining his life. Just admit that it's fucking stupid. Fat people eating snacks are not ruining his life.
