Billy Bragg - Rich Men Earning North of a Million

Since I saw that clip of Oliver Anthony singing his song 'Rich Men North of Richmond', the ghost of Woody Guthrie has been whispering in my ear. "Help that guy out" Woody keeps telling me "Let him know there's a way to deal with those problems he's singing about". So today I sat down and wrote this response to Mr Anthony's song, for people like him and people like you.
If you’re selling your soul, working all day
Overtime hours for bullshit pay
Nothing’s gonna change if all you do
Is wish you could wake up and it not be true
Join a union, fight for better pay
Join a union, brother, organise today
You’ll see where the problem really lies
When the union comes around:
Rich men earning north of a million
Wanna keep the working folk down
Wanna keep the working folk down
If you form a union, you’ll soon find
That working people are all of one kind
So we ain’t gonna punch down on those who need
A bit of understanding and some solidarity
That ain’t right, friend
If you’re struggling with your health, putting on the pounds
Doctor gives you opiates to help you get around
Wouldn’t it be better for folks like you and me
If medicine was subsidised and healthcare was free
Join a union, fight for better pay
Join a union, sister, organise today
It comes down to the self same thing
If you’re black or white or brown:
Rich men earning north of a million
Wanna keep the working folk down
Wanna keep the working folk down
We know your culture wars are there to distract
While libertarian billionaires avoid paying tax
You want to talk about bathrooms while the flood waters rise,
The forest is on fire and the wind burns our eyes
Something’s wrong here
They want to divide us, because together we’re strong,
Are you gonna take action now you’ve sung your damn song?
If you don’t like the rich man having total control,
You better get the union to roll
Join a union, fight for better pay
Join a union, organise today
Don’t matter if you live in the city
Or some little country town
Rich men earning north of a million
Rich men earning north of a million
Rich men earning north of a million
Wanna keep the working folk down
Wanna keep the working folk down
If you’re selling your soul, working all day
Overtime hours for bullshit pay
Join a union

[@AB-ec5qv]

Money trickles up - not down. “Give it to the people at the bottom and the people at the top will have it by nightfall.” - Will Rogers. Signed, Proud Teamster.

[@piaonomata9220]

Don't forget the rest of that quote, either, because it's crucial to understanding what Rogers meant (and even this isn't the full quote): "Give it to the people at the bottom and the people at the top will have it before night, anyhow. But it will at least have passed through the poor fellow's hands."

[@LoriCurl]

Proud Teamster here too!

[@colinbrander3402]

Exactly, trickle up economics works. Trickle down is a fraud and is just a tax break for the people at the top.

[@David_K_pi]

I've never been a union member, due mainly to my profession. But I have always supported them. Afterall, they help me indirectly. A rising tide lifts all boats. Go unions!

[@colinbrander3402]

@David_K_pi weekends, paid vacations, better wages are things all employees have benefited from as a result of unions.

[@BPTK162]

Coming back here after the NLRB ruled about Unfair Labor Practices in the run up to a Union Election. Steps in the right direction

[@bjdefilippo447]

Absolutely! Some really welcome news. Hopefully it'll make becoming unionized much easier.

[@turgid_member8717]

That was a big, big step.

[@nosuchperson284]

Did this framework just effectively put the union busting companies out of business? I would be so glad. I hear all this talk about how individuals need to stand up for themselves while the rich collude. Individually unionize and create a citizen force that can sit it's own self down at the table with business and government for us. It's time that between the two either / or controlling factors in our lives, we became a stable tripod with one entity outside of both representing the people themselves.

[@istankimjong-unbutcantstan3398]

Beau sent me here.

[@Mettle_DAD]

Best news we've gotten in a long time

[@hectorsmommy1717]

Never in a union (my field was not known for unionizing) but I have always supported them and my Mom was a unionized public school teacher. Unionized workers are what created the strong middle class this country needed and we need to get back to that.

[@bkoopa6464]

Sounds like you should join an industrial union.

[@hectorsmommy1717]

@@bkoopa6464 Retired now so the only work I do is volunteer.

[@thugpug4392]

There's no such thing as the middle class. There's workers and owners.

[@hillx021hill3]

I'm 3rd generation, Union raised. Billy came to our union rally 10 years ago at the drop of a hat and sang and testified about healthcare and solidarity . I got to get a hug from Billy Bragg! That's how solidarity works.

[@wadeh777]

Yeah billy wants you in a system that keeps you at the poverty level. Go work for yourself and stop paying union reps tons of money to do nothing at all for you and I was in the union 20 years as a 3rd generation drywall finisher

[@Madronaxyz]

Happy to hear this!

[@thisisit333]

Grew up as a Longshoreman and USPS Union granddaughter and daughter, who STILL believes #UnionStrong ✊🏼🇺🇸✊🏽🇬🇧✊🏻

[@conradsurak6060]

Daily reminder that workers build everything including billionaires and it's time we take back what we've built

[@taiko1237]

'It was we who tamed the prairies, built the cities where they trade Dug the mines and built the workshops, endless miles of railroad laid Now we stand outcast and starving 'midst the wonders we have made But the union makes us strong.'

[@gregallen4272]

It time to tax the political powerful billionaires boys club back into being just millionaires and save democracy and sanity for everyone own both sides. Because all this hatred and divisiveness and violence is for only ONE Thing tax cuts for the ultra rich donor who have now bought up huge amounts of land and homes and are screwing the country and working people over

[@heynowls3058]

Right. Power to the people. Unions only way to power.

[@conradsurak6060]

@taiko1237 unions are a good start but we have capitalism has outlived its usefulness, we don't need the parasites

[@conradsurak6060]

@heynowls3058 if that's your thinking you should read Daniel DeLeon you'll love him

[@fractally]

BRAVO!!! Our city tenant union is changing the game for renters, and forcing billionaire developers to be accountable to WE THE PEOPLE. We need more musicians like Billy for today's organizing efforts.

[@user-iu7zx4sk5w]

than you should grab a guitar and get to buskin'

[@godspeed2939]

How do I find out if my city has a tenant union please. We need help in Ohio with severe gouging on rent fees!

[@jonnyhailey]

Been trying to do my bit for a couple of years but getting exposure for a protest song is very hard. Radio stations don't like to play them and the algorythems on spotify etc are gate keepers for these types of songs. Won't stop doing what I do though 😊

[@gregallen4272]

It time to tax the political powerful billionaires boys club back into being just millionaires and limit ownership of homes to 10 at a time max for corporations or private owners

[@omarelk194]

Congratulations.

[@Sleepless_Sam]

Got my first union job this year and it took quite a bit of adjusting. You often times don't realize how much you're being abused until you can separate yourself from the abuser.

[@Bluesblue88]

ILWU Local 23 member here. Port of Tacoma Longshoremen. Lucky & Proud to be in a Union. Thanks for the great song! You really nailed it!

[@smash507]

Iron Workers local 771 Saskatchwan Canada

[@LoriCurl]

You go ILWU Local 23!! Port of Tacoma, I'm from Portland, A Proud Teamster here!! This song speaks volunes, just what I needed to hear today and everyday!! Going on the playlist!!

[@smash507]

@@LoriCurl ..Billy Braggs..Rich men earning north of a million..Another good one.

[@Nubblucy]

Thanks for your work on behalf of all of us, especially during the last few years. Stay strong. Turning it over and over in my brain, trying to figure out how to unionize my part of the work world.

[@wadejohnson3051]

AMWU - Australian Manufacturering Workers Union and Proud. We learnt a lot from the US now it's time we helped you back.

[@cryptofacts4u]

Was part of a union for 4 years 10 years later and I've still got the union card in my wallet to remind me

[@elwoodbluesmorris2120]

To remind you of what, how shit they are? My first job, joined the union, out on strike every other month, factory closed down and went overseas. Never joined one again.

[@wadeh777]

Well the fact you only stayed in 4 years speaks volumes

[@cryptofacts4u]

@@wadeh777 yeah really speaks to how bad the grocery store Union was that I would leave to go do sales because I apparently was good at it, I mean if the union was really good then I would totally staving a grocery worker instead of going into sales and making three times as much 🤷🤦‍♂️ You know that saying about assuming? Cuz you've officially made you and me a behind

[@wadeh777]

@@cryptofacts4u exactly you left for more money unions keep everyone just at poverty level was a union member for 20 years in drywall started my own shop non union make way more pay my guys way better all my crew is the hardest working guys the union had that turned there back on them when they got hurt and ruled in favor of the owners. So the screw the union screw the union reps they only out for themselves

[@cryptofacts4u]

@@wadeh777 not really 🤷 I was a young 20-year-old and it was a grocery store I moved on to a higher paying career in sales. We made more than the non-union grocery store employees, and we actually got breaks and lunches, and our schedules were protected, no last minute changes by mgmt. But if you think me leaving the grocery store Union speaks volumes then does the fact that I'm going into plumbing now and entering the plumbers union also speak volumes? Or is that one quieter since it doesn't make a point for you?

[@user-si7pc5yp5d]

Woody is applauding you somewhere, Billy.

[@wadeh777]

Woody would never stand for a pos like billy

[@TheRealMACA]

​@@wadeh777why do u say this? I truly don't know stuff so please be kind and enlighten me.

[@wadeh777]

Because Woody stood for people coming together to make a new system billy believes In leftist views and his answer is to keep liberal politicians in office. It's why Oliver Anthony song is so amazing and uniting the whole county cause many of us Americans can't stand the Republican or Democrat party they are both evil and greedy. And also Billy promotes unions which never work and forces a lot of people to do back breaking work and sign contracts limiting what there capable of earning and making the few people at the top wealthy. Billy is so out of touch with working class people woodie was one

[@JimHolder-pk2kk]

Yep Woody and his buddy Pete both.

[@OCCA]

Indeed he is, and so am I.

[@JoshuaShepherd]

August 24, 2023: Lockheed Martin, Stratford, CT was awarded a $2.7 Billion-with-a-B taxpayer dollar contract for war helicopters. A separate $315M contract goes to Lockheed’s Littleton, CO facility for missile flight tests. Jingo reactionaries shalt not utter a disparaging word about their war daddies.

[@leonino8838]

Unions are the only special interest group a working person has on their side

[@ZiggZagg11]

Sorry, but neither political party is on unions sides anymore... 😮

[@smkandmrr]

​@@ZiggZagg11isn't that what the OP said?

[@chrismiller5875]

​@@ZiggZagg11not true...the most unions are in bed with democrats especially in NY & Michigan....live in right to work state now and don't fight for the crumbs because so many more jobs and I can negotiate my own pay

[@leonino8838]

@@ZiggZagg11 That was my point. Unions ARE THE ONLY organization a working person has on our side.

[@leonino8838]

@@chrismiller5875 who do you think set the platform for your negotiable wage? A local union.

[@agluebottle]

Our only options are to organize or lick boots.

[@northuniverse]

Lots of boot lickers angry here.

[@spintax1639]

Or you could develop some skill that is useful to society. Start by shaving off that scraggly beard and taking a shower, ya filthy commie.

[@user-qk2ni1qc1r]

How do you organize people who hate one another?

[@lindabergman3127]

Keep speaking truths to lies🎉🎉🎉

[@lindabergman3127]

@@user-qk2ni1qc1rspeaking truths to lies🔥🔥🔥

[@loriw2661]

Thank you to “Beau Of The Fifth Column” for sending me here!! Love this song and it should be used by all Unions as their theme song.

[@michelewalburn4376]

Amen. That's how I got here too.

[@doithimaceabhard7457]

​@@michelewalburn4376samsies

[@scottcallahan3470]

Me too. I am a proud IUOE member. I will be lucky enough to have a great pension when so many are given a few 401k bucks and told to figure it out for themselves. Second, only to meeting my wife, the union is absolutely the best thing to ever happen to me.

[@markkujii4247]

Howdy Internet people! Regs from Finland 🇫🇮

[@leperpens]

Please spread his link to your friends & family. We need more birds eye view, long term wisdom being spread to combat the noise that will inevitably be coming at us leading up to the next election.

[@blackflagsnroses6013]

Well done! Not just the spirit of Guthrie, but of Pete Seeger. Perhaps with this workers today have their own modern “Which Side Are You On?”

[@moxiebombshell]

he's been putting out such amazing music for decades, too. Absolutely love Billy Bragg ❤❤❤

[@bodyer2120]

I'm not on the side of a millionaire telling the working class that all they need is a union. Such a crass response to a real working class piece of art which affect the whole of the working class. But like Bragg it's all about division. Socialism in the UK ditched the working class 40 years ago and that's when I ditched socialism. It's all about identity politics now for Bragg and his Champaign sipping ilk.

[@trinawhitener7753]

@@bodyer2120you’re a goddamn moron. Do you enjoy safety standards? 8 hour workdays? Getting paid for every minute you work? Child labor being illegal? You can thank Unions for that, not scab shitheads like Anthony Oliver. That motherfucker is a SALESMAN. You think he really understands he suffering of the poor and the blue collar? He doesn’t. He has an idea what it’s like, but not the experience.

[@blackflagsnroses6013]

@@bodyer2120you think unions aren’t the working class taking back their autonomy? Lol! Oliver’s song is so feared by the establishment they used it in the GOP debate and it’s being promoted by every opponent of welfare. Rage Against the Machine it’s not. If Bragg’s a class traitor then good for him. He himself is a worker that doesn’t own the music production company (means of production). Conservatives pretending they’re mad at success and wealth is the funniest thing. The only thing I disagree with is the working classes don’t need government or standard labor unions, return to libertarian socialism and anarchist-syndicalism like in the days of the IWW. Anarchism is the future of leftism and labor politics. With Rojava and EZLN leading the charge. Till then join a labor union and a tenant union, abolish the state!

[@yourewrongabouteverything]

​@@blackflagsnroses6013unions are complete scams 😂

[@ashtonsgotsauce9981]

This is what we need to be blowing up. I'll share every damn day if need be.

[@dphilly179]

Why? Dude's trying to rip off a song that's blowing up now to try and steal some of it's clicks while trying to pull the virtue card

[@ashtonsgotsauce9981]

@@dphilly179 cry more about fudge rounds, see how far that gets you

[@RAREFORMDESIGNS]

100% correct@@dphilly179

[@bwm_72]

@@dphilly179 I think you weren't listening. Mr. Bragg is right- Mr. Anthony and his fans would do well to take heed.

[@wadeh777]

Billy Bragg and his Epstein island loving ways is a socialist scum bag

[@NessBarzan]

Bedankt Billy , De enige manier voor ons arbeiders en gepensioneerden om gehoord te worden en onze verworvenheden te behouden is een sterke vakbond . Woody in zijn tijd wist het al .

[@alumpyhorse]

goed gezegd 💪

[@HerbaSanitas-zq1su]

Precies!

[@cangooner]

Two thumbs-up from a CAPE local 502 member. 👍👍

[@lenninyberg4064]

Woody Guthrie is smiling at you Billy. Thank you. 💙

[@3asyprint]

surely Guthrie as an artist would wonder what this negative response song is for

[@bodyer2120]

Laughing more likely.

[@HOL]

I suspect more like Guthrie was a bit bored with this appropriation & is whispering his advice directly to Anthony.

[@lieutenantlascivious1992]

Why because he stole a real American folk song and rewrote it to fit his cult?

[@lenninyberg4064]

@@bodyer2120 No. Woody loved unions and thus the working class. 💙

[@StudioGREGORIO]

The People United will never be defeated.

[@wadeh777]

With clowns like billy Bragg around they will never unite that POS is nothing out a corporate sell out

[@jamesbrand7075]

Never. ✊🚩

[@kimberlybrungardt2714]

I actually worked for a company that gave us a fair shake because they were afraid of their workforce unionizing.

[@th3jerseydevil189]

And that when you thank the union.

[@jeremyspecce]

“We don’t punch down” is one of the most important lines of this song to me. The people below you struggling are not the enemy, and not the cause of your problems.

[@earlw33]

Workers are what makes everything possible! Together we have strength in making our lives better! In solidarity with all my brothers and sisters!

[@CARLMILLER-fu4ic]

“Workers” is the key word. Damn all the unemployed stealing my tax dollars. There are jobs out there. Get a job

[@WillGriffith7654]

@@CARLMILLER-fu4ic You are laying blame on the wrong side. They are not the ones stealing your tax dollars, and don't let the billionaires convince you otherwise. Fight to make the rich pay their fair share, not to make the downtrodden feel worse for trying to survive with what little scraps they are given.

[@CARLMILLER-fu4ic]

I think you’re wrong my friend. How can we even mention fair share when your so called “down trodden” get by for free? Welfare is expensive - and provided too freely. The unemployed on welfare are in no way downtrodden. They have more benefits than me from this society. Unions take your money a provide it to political campaigns without asking which campaign you’d like the money to go to. That’s corruption. Once a company unionizes, if you don’t pay your dues they fire you. They take you money and buy politicians - and if you don’t want to be part of it you get fired. That’s tyranny

[@idontagree9658]

Is "unemployed" a euphenism for investor who does no work, just pokes buy/sell/trade buttons? Nil on the Head, Carl! They do waste a border wall full of tax dollars...

[@CARLMILLER-fu4ic]

If that investor is receiving a welfare check - sure. Otherwise no. Border is a separate problem that I’m not sure how to fix. However, it is strange that fans of Unions would want to bring in more workers. More workers in the pool of labor drives down wages through more lower class competition for jobs. Open borders empower the upper class. It makes it more profitable for a guy to get welfare than to do construction. We don’t need more workers. We need to make it more profitable to work than to sit on your butt with a government check coming monthly. You want wages to go up? Stop the flow of cheap labor coming in from outside the US. Then business will have no choice but to pay workers more.

[@blakpoet]

Thanks brother Billy Bragg. This is Woody Guthrie meets Eugene Debs. This is how you spark dialogue and action. Join a Union! CWA2336 Represent!

[@paindaburned2629]

BAC Local 3, and Teamsters 50 over the years, and those were the only 2 jobs I ever had that offered Healthcare I could afford and wages that allowed me to prosper.

[@TravelingHat]

Howdy there internet people ;)

[@Neojoe20]

LOL who dislikes a song about getting what your worth? Is there really 7,000 CEOs watching this vid?

[@matthewbelcik843]

Naw its more about an ignorant privileged bob dylan wannabe from a different country appropriating a song from a destitute mill worker from a community suffering via both anti-union capitalist and pro-union exploitation while the cover singer accuses a dude living out of a mobile home of punching down and says he can correct his message, so he can cash in on a man who's actually suffered and a wrote a song millions can relate to- knowing upper-middle class faux elitists will eat it up and act like they aren't part of the problem impoverishing then gentrifying rural communities.

[@wadeh777]

No the most popular song in America is rich men north of Richmond it touched so many of us and this stupid POS billy wants to diss that song, Billy is grasping for straws to make money and using Oliver's song to be relevant so all the dislikes are people that see through billy and his charade

[@TomorrowWeLive]

Nope, just sane people who know history and understand reality

[@berrybluebird3842]

Not only is this a better song, it is also one of my favorite current releases as of December 23, 2023, literally just two days from Christmas, this song is not only good to listen to, but it actually speaks the truth without demonizing people on assisted living. Thank you, Billy Bragg. You're a saint.

[@englishguy9680]

You have no taste 😂

[@benthomas4544]

I don't think it's better. They're both good. I've been a Bragg fan for almost 40 years, but don't sleep on Anthony's version. He's speaking for a contemporary frustration that us on the left disregard to our own shame. If you don't get what he's talking about, you don't understand. Stand aside or sit down.

[@Gamingderpmonglers]

Look at all the sad business owners disliking this amazing song that heard the new NLRB news 😂😂

[@tombrown4683]

Poor babies ! Maybe they need to get back on the job - remember what it was like, IF they ever knew !

[@sirbarnabyst.johntoffingto9017]

Tis so, but I still prefer the impassioned Anthony Oliver delivery.

[@emfine100]

Well said Billy. 'No force on earth is weaker than the feeble strength of one, but the union makes us strong!'

[@spruce381]

Man, can’t believe how much Union hate there appears to be in US reactions to this z Billy. Union gives me sick pay, holidays, good payrise and safe working conditions.

[@Davesknd]

50 years of constant indroctrination. Reagan and Thatcher did a horrifyingly terrific job

[@JustABitAlien]

Redirecting our anger away from the distractions we were given and onto the real problem is going to be hard, but if we can do that, we can do anything.

[@jimmythemadostrich8947]

. . . and the real problem is and always was a lack of understanding.

[@libertycoffeehouse3944]

The problem is a fiat currency.

[@HouseholdDog]

You are the problem.

[@brucebostick2521]

@@jimmythemadostrich8947 agree! corporations hurt workers, unions fight, but not strong enough, worker blames union for everything!

[@mikemurray919]

​@brucebostick2521 unions steal workers wages and ignore the wishes of the members forced to join them by the very government the union supposedly fights

[@DeborahLagutaris]

As a longtime labor activist this song makes me cry. It's beautiful.

[@elwoodbluesmorris2120]

Try watching and listening to the original song, the one he has sh*t on.

[@fredh1720]

​@@elwoodbluesmorris2120the one that blames poor people for living badly and getting themselves in their situation in the first place? Or the one blaming the rich? I know which I'll go for

[@elwoodbluesmorris2120]

@@fredh1720 One that sings about his own feelings, and one that criticises that same person and rips his song off for the fun of it.

[@fredh1720]

​@@elwoodbluesmorris2120He wrote an article in the Guardian about doing this. If you think he's ripping it off, you're either being stupid or deliberately obtuse. Those are the options. You choose. If your union song is finding fans in the right wing, then it's clearly not good enough!

[@dalilahrambo6826]

@@fredh1720 Deliberately obtuse, obviously.

[@matelot22]

Thanks for the song Billy. 'There's power in a factory, power in the land. Power in the hand of the worker.'

[@bernburn11]

'But it all amounts to nothing If together we don't stand There is power in a Union'

[@heynowls3058]

Unions!

[@user-iu7zx4sk5w]

Member of Unite Here 11 here, proud union member. The path ahead is daunting but our grandmothers and grandfathers have proven that with great struggle comes a great change.

[@YTsupportsZionaziGenocide]

i have no idea who billy bragg is , but i like and endorse this song.... beau (of the fifth column) linked to this song in his most recent video on unions.

[@tombrown4683]

That's what brought me here IATSE Local 78 !

[@bjdefilippo447]

Beau doesn't share much, but he's always on the money when he does!

[@tombrown4683]

@@bjdefilippo447 💯🎯 !!

[@HedgeWitch-st3yy]

Billy has a long history of supporting unions and left causes in the UK and internationally. His back catalogue is worth checking out.

[@periculumesse1525]

He is a carpet bagger, millionaire criticizing billionaires. Billy stop. I support Unions, but find you frustrating, dividing, profiting from someone else. Why do wannabe liberals always need to find fault, show how smart they are - and not listen.

[@alma175w]

Always right for the moment - Billy Bragg doesn’t disappoint.

[@3asyprint]

umm I think the Oliver Anthonys song is right for the moment no idea why it needed a rebuttal

[@SkyrimFanForever1]

@@3asyprintbecause many people disagreed with its message. It has a negative conception in it if welfare and doesn’t offer any significant solutions. Notice how it get people say how much rich people such but not what to do in response. There’s something missing in the song and it has flawed messaging in many peoples eyes. You might disagree but notice how many people find there to be something lacking in Anthony’s song

[@sweatt4237]

@@SkyrimFanForever1 You are like an abused wife that doesn't know why she is always covered in bruises.

[@christiancamlin13]

Oliver Anthony's song expresses something genuine. The problem is it offers no solutions. Worse it encourages poor people to blame other poor people for their problems. Billy Bragg offers a way to actually do something constructive and doesn't blame other victims of the rich for their problems. Doesn't it seem a little ironic that Mr Anthony criticized 300 pounds.pound welfare mothers when he himself appears to weigh about 300 pounds? Joining a union won't solve everything. That said if the working class and poor can unite and hold the upper crust accountable some of these problems can me solved.

[@crabapples1995]

@@SkyrimFanForever1 a lot of pathetic naive idiots.

[@rj7411]

Outstanding!

[@elisebryant6595]

Woo hoo! Thank you, Billy! Woody, Pete, and Florence are singing your praises in union heaven!!

[@vraifille]

Bwahahah.

[@flwrfan1752]

@@vraifille-Ignorant ass

[@JimHolder-pk2kk]

Yep, so many good people have passed on before NLRB finally made the new rule to stop union busting employers!

[@gking407]

TRUTH - SING IT!! (be advised this song is not astroturfed by rich men) 😂

[@johnosullivan675]

Beau sent me.

[@Brian-bw3uu]

Billy Bragg with the elbow from the sky! Didn't see that coming. Anyway I hope Billy sees Anthony's video condemning the embrace of his song by the far-right and Republican politicians. My reaction to the song was the same as Billy's but dude may be redeemable lol

[@DrHotWarLove]

‘Like’ if Beau of the Fifth Column directed you here.

[@tombohler6349]

It’s interesting how many comments parrot the focus-group refined talking points of America’s billionaire oligarchy.

[@sheavague7058]

People will read your comment to assert their own opinion.

[@idontagree9658]

Interesting or obviously bad AI comment bot programming?

[@richardgraham7055]

Paulo Freire (Pedagogy of the Oppressed): “The oppressed, having internalized the image of the oppressor and adopted his guidelines, are fearful of freedom.” Frantz Fanon: “A government or a party gets the people it deserves and sooner or later a people gets the government it deserves.” Aldous Huxley ‘After Many a Summer Dies the Swan’: “…you can’t help if they persist in the course of behaviour which originally got them into their trouble. For example, you can’t preserve people from the horrors of war if they won’t give up the pleasures of nationalism. You can’t save them from slumps and depressions so long as they go on thinking exclusively in terms of money and regarding money as the supreme good. You can’t avert revolution and enslavement if they will identify progress with the increase of centralization and prosperity with the intensifying of mass production. You can’t preserve them from their collective madness and suicide if they persist in paying divine honours to ideals which are merely projections of their own personalities - in other words, if they insist on worshiping themselves…” H. L. Mencken (1880 - 1956): “As democracy is perfected, the office of president represents… the inner soul of the people. On some great and glorious day the plain folks of the land will reach their heart's desire at last and the White House will be adorned by a downright moron.”

[@amaresmom4249]

So glad someone said it out loud. BTW I don't like this song

[@joshlitman8310]

@@idontagree9658 you are a bot. A left leaning one I’m sure

[@jonnyhailey]

No nonsense lyrics, clear message. Love it Billy ❤

[@tommycoopersmagiccarpetwea817]

But 2 out of 10 for originality, eh?

[@tommycoopersmagiccarpetwea817]

@flwrfan1752 was thinking more about the lyrical content . . . Join a union. Fight for better pay. Etc

[@flwrfan1752]

@@tommycoopersmagiccarpetwea817-No different than the Anthony song in that way.Both songs talk about universal ideas.

[@tylerbeller9025]

@@flwrfan1752well except this one is correct and that one is stupid as hell.

[@flwrfan1752]

@@tylerbeller9025 -Please tell more people that.There are people crying in reaction videos to Anthony’s song.on KZbin.Some people want it to be our National Anthem( the Anthony song).That Anthony song upset me so much I couldn’t eat my fudge rounds!Just using some humor there.

[@muzvid]

While I appreciated the frustration expressed by Oliver Anthony's original, I felt that his analysis of the problem was lacking. This is a nice corrective!

[@pranays]

Astroturfed Anthony?

[@rommadsen6443]

I just heard Ken Burns saying how important to history the dawn of the US was/is. I wonder if guilds and unions aren't almost as important. I'm just mulling this over.

[@BeardOfRiker]

Who’s here because of Beau Of The Fifth Column?

[@marcoitalico7424]

good call, bet i'm not the only one!

[@nicoleurbach2861]

Here!

[@tommypotteiger135]

Here.

[@davepushka8513]

Here

[@sauce1101]

Solidarity from the AFT

[@camelliascholl6564]

I remember going to see a show you played near 15 years ago. Glad to see you still speaking out for the working folk

[@3asyprint]

when prompted by a better artist

[@eswift8318]

Just saw him a few months ago. He's still going.

[@HOL]

the guy is a depressed mentally ill factory worker writing a song of frustration. The man is not ready to start unions. He's still coping.

[@maxfieldstanton4541]

It's interesting to me that the original artist has come out to tell all these capitalist cucs and maga cultists that they heard the wrong song. Here's the message we need: horizontal hostility kills every one but the tyrants. As brother Bragg says to us here, "Join a Union. Organize today."

[@anotherkenlon]

Together we bargain, alone we beg.

[@margaretjohnson6259]

excellent. so much better than that other one shaming obese people when it's the corporations and wealthy milking the system.

[@doithimaceabhard7457]

You missed the point of Chris' song, he's condemning the system for putting people in that situation, to listen again and read the lyrics

[@carlyar5281]

I like this version better too there’s no antisemitic conspiracy theory dog whistles

[@mikemartinez9064]

@@carlyar5281I missed the antisemitic part of the song, could you point that part out please?

[@doithimaceabhard7457]

@@mikemartinez9064 well now I gotta go listen to it again, I'm always up for a bit of anti-zionism which is what these fruitcakes are usually referring to

[@doithimaceabhard7457]

I'm back but couldn't find the dog whistle unless it's about the child rapist Epstein, is that a "Jewish" name?

[@markcampbell4458]

We don't have a 40 hour work week, time and a half, and workman's comp because 19th century industrialists were a bunch of nice guys. Brave men and women fought, suffered and sacrificed to make those things happen. Let's honor those sacrifices by advocating, joining, or creating a union in our work place. Solidarity forever, my brothers and sisters.

[@psychicbyinternet]

Nice reworking. I agree, unions are good. They're the whole reason we have things like breaks, weekends, holidays, 40 hour weeks instead of 80 hour weeks and benefits.

[@michellem2892]

THANK YOU BILLY BRAGG! PERFECT SONG! YOU AND WOODY GUTHRIE KNEW EXACTLY WHAT WE ALL NEEDED! (And for what it’s worth, I’m a sister who’s a TEAMSTER, proud member of Local 695 in Madison, Wisconsin : D

[@themechkid5704]

Fantastic!

[@thisisit333]

Union Strong ✊🏼🇺🇸✊🏽🇬🇧✊🏻 Our governments must start to #TAXBillionaires Granddaughter of a Longshoreman and daughter of USPS Union workers. And currently a retired Teacher, that was proud to join my Union! Unions DO give the 98% a fighting chance! Stop letting anti-workers corporations, and Billionaires gaslight those of Us that built Our Nations FFS!

[@DylanAFSCMELOCAL1583member]

Proud AFSCME local 1585 member hear, I love this song. I also love Oliver Anthony's song. Anthony song is very important. Yes it is nit left Wing but it definitely wasn't right wing because the song was a song holding solidarity and sympathy for the workers and the poor I believe he is a worker, I wish the left and labor mainstream would and will supported the song more.

[@BeauoftheFifthColumn]

Love it

[@andaalpaparazi]

Billy es todo lo que está bien

[@TubeOClock]

Saw Uncle Bill at the Bristol Beacon earlier this year (2024). First time was early late 1980s/1990s - Portsmouth.

[@bubabubu6088]

Sam Seder was talking about this. I follow Billy Bragg for quite some time now but this one i missed. Classic! Thanks Billy!

[@ellegaunt]

Aw Billy Bragg. Thank you for adding your comments and art to the discourse.

[@unmanageable68]

Thank you!

[@thelazyreconnoiter583]

Thanks for this.

[@ladyjatheist2763]

Beau sent me I'm glad of it! Well done!

[@tombrown4683]

Me too !! IATSE Local 78

[@kimthomas781]

Same here!!!!!!

[@user-rf2oj2pe1g]

I am in a union, one of the biggest in the UK and my wage and conditions still suck. Saw news yesterday bosses got on average a 16% rise and the actual workers got 5%

[@michaelbarry1293]

Go on strike bro. You'll have support here in the states

[@santiagogold446]

I'm in the states, and at one time I was in a union which was really a company union. Every 3 years the union gave more and more away to the company. What was the point of paying dues? Non union folks had it better. Unions can be good, but in my experience it was a nightmare.

[@brennans2286]

@@santiagogold446those are the bourgeois unions. They sold you out a long time ago. But look at the uaw and teamsters. Their own members took back control and now they are poised to win historic gains, as the teamsters already have.

[@IamSpacedad]

Literally the way you fight union corruption is...get with your union members and organize. That's what the UPS workers and the teamsters did in the US years ago, and the rooted out the corrupt boss-lapdog union bosses who were wrecking their union. Organize.

[@Dracus40k]

Unions are in it for themselves. Learn to negotiate for your own pay. If everyone quits due to poor pay it doesn't matter if they are in a union or not. The Union is a tool to make you think you are getting a better deal, to control you, and to be a parasite on your paycheck.

[@janechantler6936]

Great song, Billy. There's a union for everyone. Strength in unity.

[@Pumpeduse]

❤❤❤ Billy 4-ever ! Looking forward to seeing him in Antwerp!

[@standinstann]

This is the best rejoinder to anything I've ever heard. Thank you Billy. 😊

[@asimovstarling8806]

Finally. The unionized America That my parents and grandparents Used to Sell the American Dream to me might actually return.

[@JustinMM1985]

Yep!

[@nonnyena4267]

Who else came here from _Beau of the Fifth Column's_ 8/26/23 3p.m. post & recommendation? Hey from MO Bootheel!

[@BeauoftheFifthColumn]

I did. 😆 🤣

[@nonnyena4267]

Thanks for that! 😂 [i always tell folk when they've been a Goddess-wink for me. This was definitely one & i sorely needed it: so thanks, too, for the unintended... _dividend.]_

[@littlebitofhope1489]

[@claireduston5177]

Howdy there, Beau Peeps. 👋🏻

[@blackflagsnroses6013]

Celebrating the new NLRB ruling!!! 🔨 ⚙️ 🧑🏽‍🌾💪🏽

[@erinlyndalmartin9225]

We are so lucky to have you. Thank you!

[@barbaralee6410]

Solidarity Forever!

[@TheUnrepentant1]

In 1983 the percentage of US workers in a union was 20.1; in 2022, it had dropped to 10.1%. The rich get richer, and the poor scramble to just get by - we need to start organizing again on a national scale - there is power in people sticking together. Somehow in the last few decades we have forgotten that.

[@lopresti4559]

Apathy. massive, gross, widespread Apathy, is what u got. And poor ppl voting against their own best interests. 👌

[@jimmythemadostrich8947]

1983 Life's A Riot With Spy Vs Spy.

[@Majack161]

Oh, so this only happens in unions…

[@joewocher3360]

So if you were at a job and your coworkers were producing less product than you, had poor aditudes, showed up late, and would sit around and not do shit. Do you think they should get the same pay raises and performance bonuses as you? If so, a union is perfect for you. A union is like that. The people who work hard and actually get stuff done get the same raise and bonus as the lazy people.

[@rugarroo2676]

In 3 years, the only time I saw a Union Rep was when he was asking for my money at orientation. Glad I didn't fall for that.

[@justinallen4903]

Hell yeah!

[@commonsense.1014]

Local 89 here, will be a life long member. Hell. If youe in the louie ky area, and want to strengthen our union. A group and I, have established a independent council yo push the union harder. We have a group meeting 1 a month and the goal by the end of 2024 is to be having meeting in the union hall. Remember. If you stop fighting now those that come after won't have the same of what you once had. Fight fight fight. And stay united.

[@peterhobson3262]

If working was good for you then rich people would leave none for the poor. --Haitian proverb

[@HereticNoir]

Together, we are stronger than those who profit from our labor.

[@BiggeDiehl]

I just retired after working 55,000hrs as a Teamster. I now have a good pension, lifetime medical for my Wife and I, and peace of mind that we will enjoy our lives together without worrying about whether we will survive financially, or if we can afford food or medical needs.

[@kendrawaddams3174]

I've loved Billy for decades now. First time I've heard this one, though. What a tune! I'm off to look up the sheet music and dust off my guitar. ❤

[@wadeh777]

Please don't, Oliver Anthony is who you need to be listening to

[@kendrawaddams3174]

@@wadeh777 I can't hear you. I'm watching music clips so I can jump into the comment section and tell random strangers who they should be listening to instead. FFS.

[@kendrawaddams3174]

@@wadeh777 You need to listen to yourself. 🤣

[@kendrawaddams3174]

@@wadeh777 Sorry, I can't right now. I'm off to watch an Elvis Presley clip so I can jump into the comment section to tell random strangers that they NEED to listen to Buddy Holly instead. Because I'm a lonely moron with no social skills. 🤣🤣🤣

[@wadeh777]

@@kendrawaddams3174 haha I love when you snow flakes get aggravated I live to piss you losers off. Haha anyone who likes billy the Epstein island loving Bragg is a loser. Haha good thing hardly anyone likes his music. You need to listen to Oliver Anthony so you can stop being a low life loser

[@AdrianDeVore]

Thank you for empowering workers to change their working conditions by being pro-union!

[@bjdefilippo447]

Well said! Healthy unions can help people with some of the biggest issues we have. So glad to have been unionized since the 90s.

[@DLMaston1]

A healthy union has not existed in the US since the 1950s.

[@edcolton8385]

Solidarity 👏

[@noheroespublishing1907]

At least we definitely have David Rovics and Billy Bragg, our wise Left elders, interpreting the frustrations of the youth suffering under Capitalism.

[@sensorycircuits1338]

At a certain point wealth is not about money & the things you can buy, it's about power & access to it.

[@trathmutters1144]

Which is how and why Capitalism is destroying a habitable planet.

[@seanhurley9216]

Great observation

[@RJay207]

No one ever got rich by working hard. They got rich by exploiting those that were working hard.

[@johnwillis8223]

How did Billy get rich then?

[@NeirinCedric]

Bit extreme

[@Anygodwilldo]

I'm doing pretty well through hard work 💪

[@godspeed2939]

Does anyone know where I can research how to start a Union? How is it done?

[@piccalillipit9211]

Depends where you live etc etc as to the proecess. But just google it.

[@davekehnast7034]

I started listening to you Billy in 1988. I always open the shows I sometimes play with A New England. I like the Oliver song. I just do. I've heard this is a bad thing.

[@gaylegordon5797]

Love this more every time I hear it. ♥

[@wadeh777]

You have a rotten taste in music

[@noelmayeske2480]

Really strong song - one that espouses themes Billy Bragg's been singing about for a long time before the current hit song it responds to. Well done.

[@MenacingWithVideos]

The song should not be called "earning" north of a million.

[@argenieuwenhuijzen2557]

One question though : why didn't Anthony listen more to someone like Hazel Dickens (also from the 'coal country')?

[@user-zz5rk7xc4w]

Proudest day of my life was joining the union after years as an attorney who was shit upon (including by TTTrump's newest attorney). Now a professor and so proud to join the fight. Solidarity.

[@johnyannis5993]

So typical in America to treat everything as a problem to be solved by individuals one by one instead of considering policy changes and/or uniting to fight together as a more powerful unit. That is what is so grating to me about the original song.

[@beezulbubba13]

lol, the original song was about policy changes. Way to miss the point.

[@johnyannis5993]

@@beezulbubba13 Original song: "Taxed to no end". Ok so we can infer he wants lower taxes? Maybe? Not really a policy, IMHO. And he seems to want to protect minors. Or maybe it's miners, or maybe a cleverly done play on words and he wants us to think of both. I would tip my cap to that. Other than that it does seem to be a litany of complaints, and overall it is an expression of hopelessness, except the hope that he (and we) might wake up one day and find the problems are gone. My takeaway is that I should be angry at people who are overweight but eat cookies anyway. It's not a vibe that makes me want to go out and do anything in particular except seethe at people; and really those are people we should be banding together with if we truly wanted some change. Try and give an honest appraisal in comparison to Billy Bragg's version and see if you don't think his holds together better, and actually could spark some action however small. Like actually inspire.

[@beezulbubba13]

@@johnyannis5993 Already did. Stand by what I said. You wouldn't agree with my honest opinion anyways so it's pointless. If all the original did was make you angry at overweight people your mind doesn't have a lot of wide-ranging thought processes apparently.

[@shaneprince6572]

@@johnyannis5993 A guy wrote a song shitting on the rich, shitting on politicians and saying blue collar poor people should have better lives... and your mad about that. LOL think about that for a second man. Bootlicker.

[@angelachavez5500]

The whole song screams policy change... Stop allowing food stamps to buy all this garbage with... If you don't like the restrictions get off.... that's the point... We the people shouldn't be paying for poor choices

[@DomesticatedDemon]

Now that's more like it ✊