the_dunk_tank

Am I reading something different than everyone else here? Because I completely understand what she's trying to get at.

Leftists are dismissing the song because its early interest was astroturfed. This is throwing the baby out with the bathwater, because it has actual interest among people now, because of the astroturfing. How do we combat this problem? Just because we dismiss the song as astroturfed right-wing propaganda doesn't mean the listeners are. The right is changing minds with content like this, and it's problematic for us.

"It can't be viral because it was astroturfed" isn't a helpful assessment, because the song absolutely is viral now. It even came up in my feed on a music community. I clicked it because it looked like it would be up my alley based on the title and thumbnail (I enjoy folk music that shits on capitalists) and I only realized it was that song once I got to the line about people "milking welfare." The astroturfing may have raised the song up the hill, but at a certain point it had enough views and such to carry it based on momentum.

What I think the author is trying to say is that the right is succeeding here, and largely leftist media fails to make the same impact. Probably because we don't have the same connections that allow astroturfing that the people who pushed this song do. But that does leave a meaningful question: how do we reverse this trend and get people interested in leftist topics through arts and culture? How do we promote the material we have already created?

Edit: Oh no, I just heard it on the radio.

she thinks that people like the song despite the bigotry, when they obviously like it because of the bigotry. this isnt even a far right song, its an average conservative song. there are millions of conservatives in usamerica its moronic to think that the left needs a "response" to a regular ass racist song. if anything all the usamerican left cares about is propaganda.

She later deleted it saying:

Gonna delete my "Rich Men North of Richmond" thread because too many people are mistaking it for an argument in defense of the song, which it isn't. My fault for not communicating better. I'll probably write an article fleshing out my thoughts later on.

Sure, Caitlin, we misunderstood what you were trying to say lol

Roger Waters has faces more backlash for simply opening his mouth on any given day of the week for the last forty five years than this fella has over the last week. It's illegitimate to pretend like there hasn't been a organized and concerted effort by elites controlling all forms of popular media to quell the left's point of view for over 50 years. Where's the lefty viral artists?

Pawn Stars Rick: "Best I can do is a Grimes."

The success of Rich Men North of Richmond shows [...]

that the American ruling class has very deep pockets and is willing to finance astroturfs like this petit bourgeois garbage of a song: https://lemmygrad.ml/comment/1600227

A communist Tom Macdonald would be pretty amusing

Caitlin Johnstone is good. She gets a little excited in her posts and tweets sometimes, but whom amongst us hasn't?

This is exactly why the left has no solidarity. Anytime there's even the slightest disagreement over something so minute everyone starts tearing at each other as "NOT A TRUE SCOTSMAN" and divides into little camps. Over and over and over.

I'm glad I don't know who these people are or what they're referencing.

I get what she's trying to say, as goofy as this hog song is, it did it's job and people are eating it up. The left will never reach the masses with pro working class art, that stuff is going triple tinfoil and reaching nobody when you compare the numbers.

who?

Does this moron not realize there's plenty of leftist folk singers out there and also that youtube is heavily astroturfed by the right who game the system?