Oliver Anthony said NO to an EIGHT MILLION DOLLAR recording contract.

His public explanation of himself includes low income blue collar hard work, and drinking to try to solve the problems that come with that life. But he said no. To eight million dollars.

I'm reminded of a story, after an election a few decades ago in which the voters of Kansas favored the Republican side, a published news story entitled --

"What's the Matter with Kansas?"

The theme of the story was, Kansans did NOT vote in their own economic self interest, and that fact MUST indicate something like mental illness. Democrats, you see, were pushing programs, and redistributed wealth, and government taking more responsibility for more aspects of people's lives. Same crap they push now, which in their own eyes 1) makes them Santa Claus, and 2) makes voters feel like every day is Christmas.

To the Democrats, there is NO DOWN SIDE to offering people money and comfort to buy their votes... in fact, Democrats wonder why Republicans aren't doing the same thing, but they continue to thank their lucky stars that the right does NOT do this. It makes these things EASY for the left.

Except... Kansas voters chose in that long-ago election to push back on the free money and stuff, to reject Santa Claus in favor of self-reliance and personal responsibility. And to the pet journalists of the left, that indicates IRRATIONAL thinking, akin to a real mental problem.

Fast forward thirty years, and again they are gobsmacked that a man with no assets would REJECT the payday every American DREAMS of... and for what?

Well, he doesn't want to sell his soul. He's a Christian man with a bible in his stuff. The love of money, he believes (and so do I), is the root of EVIL, and he figures that the way to avoid the corruption is to reject the money.

I admire him for that. I'm sure that if I was given that choice, I would be hard pressed to demonstrate that kind of faith and strength.

Meanwhile, liberals from one end of the country to the other are assuming he is mentally ill, like a member of a cult or something. They shrug their shoulders, and for a moment are grateful that they won't have to deal with this man's passionate songsmithing as a part of the culture that argues for the other side, politically.

Self-reliance, personal responsibility, humility, hard work, honor and honesty... things that millions of Americans hold in high esteem... are, to Democrats, just crazy.

He turned down eight million dollars, because he did not want to risk selling his soul. He did not want to discover one day that "producers" actually had veto power over creative decisions, and that he would have to change lyrics in order to meet his contractual requirement of two ten-song albums in the following year. They would have bought HIM, not just his sound. They would have owned HIS self-expression.

And he said NO.

I'm reminded of Paul Simon's "One Trick Pony."

Oliver is one of the very rare human beings who did not deal with temptation by immediately falling over backwards and yielding to it.

I'm sure Oliver Anthony will be blessed by God in uncountable ways. He has the courage born of real humility, that "I'm nothing special" sense that so often vaporizes when someone hands you a check for millions of dollars.

Remember this. Teach it to your kids. The love of money, so the proverb says, is the root of all evil. This man loves God more than he loves money.

It's an honor to share a country with him.