And just like during the French revolution, no matter how hard oligarchy tried to suppress the lower, working classes--because everything was working swimmingly for the elites--the oppressed would not submit easily or without a fight.
It might behoove the elites of today to remember that things didn't work out that well for them once the scales had tipped so far over. It didn't end up well for our own elites at the collapse of the Gilded Age either.
But the elites aren't necessarily guided by history or empathy. Their motivation, be it unmitigated greed or lust for power, has blinded them to the fact that this imbalance is unsustainable.
So that is why it's perfectly natural for the corporate media outlet CNN to frame a debate on raising the federal minimum wage by quoting privileged billionaires who think that they are somehow more worthy because of their portfolios (and make the ludicrous claim that they work harder than the poor for their money--as if watching interest grow is more laborious than having to work two or three minimum wage jobs just to put food on the table). Let's ask Steve Forbes, whose personal wealth is upwards of $430 million what he thinks about raising the federal minimum to $20,200 a year. He knows what it's like to look at that little paycheck and figuring out how to stretch it to pay for rent, food, healthcare, insurance, transportation and other basic life necessities, right?
Here's an idea: if you want to have a debate about raising the minimum wage, how about asking the opinion of someone who actually earns it? Steve Forbes has no credible knowledge of how it will impact the economy, because everything he says is directly contradicted by the evidence of every other time we've raised the minimum wage.
Look, it's your necks, elites. We can either remember the lessons of history, or we can keep telling 99 percent of Americans to eat cake, when they cannot afford bread. But it seems short-sighted to me for all of your money-making expertise.
