Evolution or Revolution - part III

https://www.history.com/topics/france/french-revolution.

This week I’m looking at change - do we need it?  

So, let’s look outside the US to start

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France in 1789 - The start of the French Revolution

“As the 18th century drew to a close, France’s costly involvement in the American Revolution, and extravagant spending by King Louis XVI and his predecessor, had left the country on the brink of bankruptcy.”

“Not only were the royal coffers depleted, but two decades of poor harvests, drought, cattle disease, and skyrocketing bread prices had kindled unrest among peasants and the urban poor. Many expressed their desperation and resentment toward a regime that imposed heavy taxes – yet failed to provide any relief – by rioting, looting, and striking.”

But, the nobility owned lands that were NOT taxed:

“In the fall of 1786, Louis XVI’s controller general, Charles Alexandre de Calonne, proposed a financial reform package that included a universal land tax from which the privileged classes would no longer be exempt.”

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Let’s stop for a second.  So, reading between the lines, the old adage “The Rich get rich, and the poor get poorer”. 

From,https://caseygrants.org/who-we-are/presidents-corner/who-decides-what-it-means-be-poor-in-america/ 

“Six years ago, I asked: What does it mean to be poor in America, and who gets to decide that?

Sadly, the answer today often remains the same as it was six years ago. Poverty is something that happens to “others” – an ill-defined and dehumanized group of people blamed for their own struggles. The poor are seen as lazy, morally, and financially weak and undeserving. Those who understand poverty best, families living the experience, have little or no say in this definition. Instead, other people, from politicians to pundits, advance this deeply flawed view.”

“The truth is, poverty in America is fundamentally different. Poverty is an experience, not a character flaw, an experience many people will face because so many in America live one paycheck from poverty. A staggering 140 million Americans are living without their basic needs being met, the Institute for Policy Studies has reported, and 38.1 million live below the poverty line.”

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I am NOT poor - so why should I care?

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Continuing,

“The top 20% of Americans owned 86% of the country's wealth and the bottom 80% of the population owned 14%. In 2011, financial inequality was greater than inequality in total wealth, with the top 1% of the population owning 43%, the next 19% of Americans owning 50%, and the bottom 80% owning 7%.”  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wealth_inequality_in_the_United_States 

The top 1% of the United States Population owns about 43% of American wealth?   Or the top 20% owns about 85% of the wealth.  

Now, understand, I’m not talking about fairness here.  I’m assuming that top 20% (basically 1 our of every 5 people) is a leader - their companies make money - think of Jeff Bezos (Amazon), Bill Gates, Warren Buffett, Mark Zuckerberg, Larry Ellison, Larry Page, Sergey Brin, Michael Bloomberg, Steve Balmer, and the Walton family.  Most of these people made money the old fashioned way - they earned it - through software, products, services, etc.   They were in the ‘right place at the right time’.  They had ideas that worked.  And, while I don’t know the list, there is a figurative list (not real), with those that lost money in the old fashioned way - they tried things and failed.  

https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/2019/10/03/forbes-400-amazon-ceo-remains-richest-person-us-despite-divorce/3849962002/

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I am NOT rich, but I am not poor.  I am good friends with two senior women - who are in the poverty group.  Both receive housing allotments, both get food from the food pantry, both are in debt - some of which is health-related.  One of these friends will (probably) never get out of debt.  Like the old Kingston Trio song - “A dollar down and a dollar a week”, her teeth were so bad, she arranged for tooth inserts - and she can pay the interest on that loan and tries to put a little towards the principal.  She lives in her subsidized housing - trying to keep the cockroaches from taking over - also trying to keep the drug dealers from breaking in and stealing what little she has.  Yes, she has had a tough life - abused as a child, not much for education as she needed to go to work as soon as she got free from her abusive father.  I wish she could have invented a computer operating system (like Bill Gates) or a computer search engine (like the Google people), but she was working for minimum wage at Sam’s Club - so she could feed her two children.

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Back to the French Revolution.  The “haves” didn’t really understand the “have nots”.  While not a real quotation - the quote attributed to Marie Antoinette when told that the poor didn’t have bread, she (incorrectly) answered “let them eat cake”.  

Eventually, the peasants rebelled - and once things started to roll (both figuratively and literally (with the guillotine) 

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Parallel story.  In Russia in the early twentieth century, the Tsar (and the nobles) had the lands and the money - and the poor had nothing - and that led to the Russian Revolution.

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I write this - not to suggest anything yet (see tomorrow’s post), but to suggest we need to “walk a mile” in the other person’s shoes.  Do we understand what it is like to go from paycheck to paycheck - and then lose your job due to a pandemic - and now have nothing?  What is it like to have nothing - but out on the streets?

Back to Micah 6:8 - “and what does God expect of you oh man, but to love justice, show mercy and walk humbly with his God.”

LOVE WINS - can we find love?

HUGS!!!

Karen