The thing is, I think with just a tiny shift in perspective, that part of the song becomes about food deserts, and how social programs are often designed to keep people in the system, not help them get out of it.

After watching Beau’s videos, I tracked down videos on OIiver Anthony’s channel from before and after the song went viral.

tldr; Beau called it.

If you’re interested in what this guy is actually saying, vs. what people say that he’s saying, there are a pair of fascinating videos on his channel from before and after the song went viral.

A couple of thoughts I’ve had:

• He is smart AF. This guy isn’t a dumb bigot hopped up on MAGA propaganda. He may have partway fallen for some of it, but that’s why they spend billions of dollars on propaganda: it works.
• The pain and disillusionment he’s making music about are real. It’s stuff that’s happening to him and his loved ones. He’s not a rich, made-for-Nashville country music star.
• He’s definitely absorbed some conservative propaganda, but he also sees through a lot of their BS.
  • He goes into the “wellfare” line a bit, and for him it’s about the cycle of government dependence and how people feel trapped by some social programs. I think with a little more perspective he’d be singing about food deserts and how hard it is to eat fresh vegetables when your grocery store is a dollar tree.
  • There was a line about “normalizing pedophilia” which makes me think he’s fallen for some of the anti-lgbt+ propaganda from the GOP. I really hope that’s not the case.
• He definitely says the people on the GOP primary stage were who he was singing about in the song, not “populist saviors”.
• I think he’s halfway to realizing that it’s not really a culture war. It’s a class war, and people like him are losing.

When you’re too racist even for black Republicans, you know you screwed up.

fwiw, it is also an “attack” from Republicans who claim the economy is a disaster. The Biden admin co-opted the term - similar to what they did with the “Dark Brandon” meme.

People on the “right” are vastly more accepting of authority than people on the left. For example, the people who didn’t wear masks were willing to die because Tucker (or whichever right-wing shitgoblin they listen to) told them to. It wasn’t some sort of anti-authoritarian expression, it was pure authoritarianism.

Hey now! As the headline says, the layoffs were painful. Those execs deserve some compensation for all their pain!