Tax the Poor Feed the Rich
Woman with slogan and a hammer and sickle symbol with a fork instead of a hammer (Madrid, 2012)
"Eat the rich" is a political slogan associated with class conflict and anticapitalism. The phrase is commonly attributed to political philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau, from a quote first popularized during the French Revolution: "When the people shall have nothing more to eat, they will eat the rich".
History [edit]
Origin [edit]
Pierre Gaspard Chaumette, President of the Paris Commune, gave a speech to the city during the Reign of Terror on 14 October 1793 in which he said:
Rousseau faisait parti du peuple aussi, et il disait: 'Quand le peuple n'aura plus rien à manger, il mangera le riche.'[1]
Rousseau, who was also one of the people, said: 'When the people shall have nothing more to eat, they will eat the rich.'
The phrase was initially a criticism of the French nobility, but it was later popularized in France as a response to the perceived failures of the French Revolution that perpetuated poverty in the country.[2]
Modern usage [edit]
In the 21st century, the phrase is used in response to the increasing wealth inequality and food insecurity. In the United States, the phrase was used by the crowd at a rally for progressive Democratic candidate Elizabeth Warren in 2019 in approval of Warren's positions on wealth redistribution, including her position on the wealth tax.[2]
In 2020, protestors of Amazon constructed a prop guillotine in front of Amazon founder Jeff Bezos' home.[3] In South Africa, the phrase "eat the rich" was used by the Land Party as its campaign slogan for the 2021 local government elections.[4] In 2021, United States Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez attended the Met Gala wearing a dress inscribed with a modification of the phrase, "tax the rich".[5]
The phrase has trended on major social networks online. It became prominent on TikTok in the late 2010s, with users posting videos critical of the rich.[2] Usage of the phrase was noted to have increased following the COVID-19 lockdowns in 2020.[6]
In popular culture [edit]
The phrase has been used for the title of a 1987 film and a song for the film by Motörhead. It was also the title of a 1993 song by Aerosmith.[2] The book Eat the Rich was published by P. J. O'Rourke in 1998. The comic series Eat the Rich debuted in 2021.[7]
Many films have been described as "eat the rich movies". This theme was particularly notable in 2019 with the releases of films such as Joker, Parasite, Knives Out, and Ready or Not.[8] [9]
See also [edit]
- No War but the Class War
References [edit]
- ^ "The Project Gutenberg eBook of Histoire de la Révolution française, tome V, by A. Thiers". www.gutenberg.org . Retrieved 2021-11-27 .
- ^ a b c d Lavin, Talia (5 November 2019). "How "Eat the Rich" Became the Rallying Cry for the Digital Generation". GQ . Retrieved 2021-04-28 .
- ^ Holmes, Aaron (27 August 2020). "Protesters set up a guillotine outside Jeff Bezos' mansion and demanded higher wages for Amazon workers after the CEO's net worth surpassed $200 billion". Business Insider . Retrieved 2022-03-24 .
- ^ SA, Land Party (2020-08-22). "It is time to "Eat the Rich"". Landparty . Retrieved 2021-11-27 .
- ^ Carras, Christi (2021-09-14). "AOC defends polarizing 'Tax the Rich' Met Gala dress: 'The medium is the message'". Los Angeles Times . Retrieved 2022-03-24 .
- ^ Presnall, Anna (28 October 2020). ""Eat the Rich!": A Rallying Cry Against Income Inequality". UAB Institute for Human Rights Blog. The University of Alabama at Birmingham. Retrieved 2022-03-24 .
- ^ Miles, John (2022-01-08). "Why is the Dark and Horrifying Cannibal Comic 'Eat the Rich' Kind of... Funny?". CBR . Retrieved 2022-03-24 .
- ^ Perez, Jacinda (2020-01-06). "Eat the Rich! – What 2019's Films Had to Say About Wealth and Privilege". Flip Screen . Retrieved 2022-03-24 .
- ^ de Castro, Elijah (19 May 2020). ""Eat the rich" phenomenon dominates popular films". The Ithacan . Retrieved 2022-03-24 .
Works cited [edit]
- Zitelmann, Rainer (2020). The Rich in Public Opinion: What We Think When We Think About Wealth. ISBN9781948647687.
Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eat_the_rich
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