In Merle Haggard’s ballad “Hungry Eyes,” the singer blames the unjust and inescapable work conditions on “another class of people” who “put us somewhere just below.” Haggard’s musical catalog featured this populist cry amid a long list of more conservative-leaning songs, projecting pride in being white descendants of Dust Bowl migrants, rage at anti-war protests, and disdain for anyone who sought handouts from the government. These songs resonated with people who valued whiteness over the country’s racial and ethnic pluralism, and self-reliance over dependency.