Fighting a Rich Man's War: Steve Earle's Poor Boy Prophecy

Economic desperation and the military recruitment of working class heroes

One war is waning in Ukraine. One war is ramping up in the Middle East.

It’s a continuous war machine hamster wheel of death and weapons sales.

Only the hamsters are humans, typically young men fed on patriotic fervor and raised on economic inequality.

Join the military. See the world. Come back home broken or in a body bag.

In 2004, the Iraq and Afghanistan wars kept plenty of young men and women busy patrolling the terrorist landscape and keeping oilfields operating for corporate profits.

"Rich Man's War" was released the same year, amid the turmoil of The Global War on Terror.

Steve Earle’s protest against economic conscription hits home.

Too often military service and warfare offer the most viable financial opportunities for America’s most vulnerable citizens.

My Dad, who grew up in South Carolina, dropped out of high school, enlisted in the Air Force, served a mission in Vietnam and retired after 22 years to work in sanitation services.

That’s a common storyline for soldiers who return after fighting in overseas conflicts.

Others are not so lucky.

Economic Realities and Draftees

All across America, communities struggle with economic downturns, Wall St. market manipulations and globalism strategy games.

Desperate times call for desperate measures. And Earle’s song signals the consequences of this unofficial draft system.

If you’re disadvantaged, it’s time to sign up and take your chances.

To illustrate Earle’s powerful message, let’s follow the paths of Jimmy, Bobby and Ali.

Jimmy

Jimmy joined the army 'cause he had no place to go
There ain't nobody hirin'
'round here since all the jobs went
down to Mexico

A decade after the NAFTA agreement, all the good jobs went south to Mexico. Politics notwithstanding, this was part of the downfall of the working man class.

Another dilemma of the times was the opioid crisis, which saw a rise in overdoses of prescription drugs and methadone.

Now he's got a rifle in his hand
Rollin' into Baghdad wonderin' how he got this far
Just another poor boy off to fight a rich man's war

Bobby

In the aftermath of 9/11, the military recruitment hounds sniffed out every chance to get honest, young men to wear the uniform.

Just watch an American football game and note the pageantry of hero worship and warplanes on display. The elites know who sits in the cheap seats.

Bobby had an eagle and a flag tattooed on his arm
Red white and blue to the bone when he landed in Kandahar
Left behind a pretty young wife and a baby girl
A stack of overdue bills and went off to save the world

If you want to understand the real American soldier, just talk to veterans on the streets, not the generals in the Pentagon.

Been a year now and he's still there
Chasin' ghosts in the thin dry air
Meanwhile back at home the finance company took his car
Just another poor boy off to fight a rich man's war

Ali

Ali was the second son of a second son
Grew up in Gaza throwing bottles and rocks when the tanks would come

Desperation is not limited to America. Politics and power are equally as manipulative on the other side too. There are sons and daughters of all colors and cultures to prey upon.

He answered when he got the call
Wrapped himself in death and praised Allah
A fat man in a new Mercedes drove him to the door
Just another poor boy off to fight a rich man's war

Coda

War is on the horizon.

Iran is the last nation on a list of seven.

As revealed by U.S. four-star general Wesley Clark: (source)

After 9/11, the U.S. planned to take out seven countries in five years, "starting with Iraq, and then Syria, Lebanon, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and, finishing off, Iran."

It’s all in the planning: poor boys fighting in poor countries for the rich bastards.

It’s a disgusting national legacy.

It’s a disgrace to military families.

It’s just wrong.

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