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Originally Posted by host
Why have we let this happen to the most of us, and why are we so accepting of it, and seeming to want more? Will the line be drawn at the ballot box, or with armed action by the common man?
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I'll take the liberty of quoting 1776 (the musical) here. They talk about exactly why people were so accepting of the status quo even though it meant brutal oppression by King George.
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Originally Posted by 1776, John Dickenson
don't forget that most men without property would rather protect the possibility of becoming rich, than face the reality of being poor.
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We see all these displays of wealth around us and dream of one day having it for ourselves. The American Dream myth lives on. We've convinced the country that the only reason they're not filthy rich is that they don't work hard enough. Well for a select few hard work has indeed made them rich. But for many more hard cheating and dishonesty is what gave them their fortune. We admire Bill Gates for being the richest man on earth, but he got there by lying, cheating, and stealing from Xerox.
It's funny - Les Mis is my all time favorite musical. I saw it for the umpteenth time a few months ago but this time I saw it in a totally different light. Folks, those students and poor people in the French revolution aren't much different from us. The Revolution started in part because the gap between the rich and the poor widened to absurd proportions. We've got the same thing happening here right now, and eventually we'll get to the point where the poor have had enough and will start an uprising. Unfortunately that doesn't seem to matter to the wealthy in power because they're too busy counting their money.