The song "16 Tons" by Johnny Cash tells the story of a poor coal miner who could be considered part of the percentage of Americans who are permanently in poverty– a concept we discussed in class. I make this assumption because Johnny sings that after lifting 16 tons of coal in one day, the miner is simply a day older and “deeper in debt”, and that the miner owes his “soul to the company store”. This suggests that the miners’ debt is growing each day– perhaps a product of debt that is accruing interest because it is late. An example of this phenomenon would be credit card debt, because if it is not paid off in full, the debt grows at the designated interest rate each month. Another possibility is that the miner is a victim of predatory lending,
