Via Buzzflash: The Revolution Against Greed: An Idea Whose Time Has Come
PAUL BUCHHEIT FOR BUZZFLASH AT TRUTHOUT
Rioters surged through the city, breaking windows and damaging the homes of the very rich:
"Catching the chief justice and his family at the dinner table, the crowd smashed in the doors with axes...reduced the furniture to splinters...destroyed the formal gardens in the rear of the mansion, drank the wine...
"Meanwhile, in the high-fashion districts, overtaxed and unemployed citizens raided the shops where patrons spent hundreds of dollars on 'frivolities' while poor people starved."
Evicted tenants around the city stormed the properties of their landlords, and prevented anyone else from taking possession. Their collective action, "chipped away at the notion that a few men of prestige and privilege could exploit those beneath them with impunity."
This all happened because a small percentage of the population had increased their share of the wealth from 30% to 50%, while the poorest half of the population had seen their share of the wealth cut in half.
In response, the wealthiest citizens rose up, offered satisfaction to the protest leaders, and spread the word that a battle should be waged instead against the foreign menace, our true enemies.
Who were the wealthy citizens that tried to calm the protest leaders? The Sons of Liberty. The year was 1765.
Now, almost 250 years later, we have more reasons than ever for "collective action against the rich." Here are some of them:
-- $1 trillion a year to the richest 1% because of tax cuts and deregulated financial instruments.
-- 0% taxes paid by many corporations.
-- 6% tax on a pair of shoes, no tax on the purchase of financial transactions.
-- $2 trillion held by corporations, no jobs for our college graduate children.
-- Planned cuts in Social Security, Medicare, education and environmental protection.
And perhaps the greatest insult to mainstream America is the Republican admission that their top goal is to defeat President Obama in 2012. Their main objective is not to ease the pain of recession, but to win a personal political battle.
It's time once again for a revolution.
References:
Ray Raphael, "A People's History of the American Revolution" (The New Press, 2001)
Gary B. Nash, "The Urban Crucible" (Harvard University Press, 1979)
Rioters surged through the city, breaking windows and damaging the homes of the very rich:
"Catching the chief justice and his family at the dinner table, the crowd smashed in the doors with axes...reduced the furniture to splinters...destroyed the formal gardens in the rear of the mansion, drank the wine...
"Meanwhile, in the high-fashion districts, overtaxed and unemployed citizens raided the shops where patrons spent hundreds of dollars on 'frivolities' while poor people starved."
Evicted tenants around the city stormed the properties of their landlords, and prevented anyone else from taking possession. Their collective action, "chipped away at the notion that a few men of prestige and privilege could exploit those beneath them with impunity."
This all happened because a small percentage of the population had increased their share of the wealth from 30% to 50%, while the poorest half of the population had seen their share of the wealth cut in half.
In response, the wealthiest citizens rose up, offered satisfaction to the protest leaders, and spread the word that a battle should be waged instead against the foreign menace, our true enemies.
Who were the wealthy citizens that tried to calm the protest leaders? The Sons of Liberty. The year was 1765.
Now, almost 250 years later, we have more reasons than ever for "collective action against the rich." Here are some of them:
-- $1 trillion a year to the richest 1% because of tax cuts and deregulated financial instruments.
-- 0% taxes paid by many corporations.
-- 6% tax on a pair of shoes, no tax on the purchase of financial transactions.
-- $2 trillion held by corporations, no jobs for our college graduate children.
-- Planned cuts in Social Security, Medicare, education and environmental protection.
And perhaps the greatest insult to mainstream America is the Republican admission that their top goal is to defeat President Obama in 2012. Their main objective is not to ease the pain of recession, but to win a personal political battle.
It's time once again for a revolution.
References:
Ray Raphael, "A People's History of the American Revolution" (The New Press, 2001)
Gary B. Nash, "The Urban Crucible" (Harvard University Press, 1979)
Comments