“Roman politicians devised a plan in 140 B.C. to win the votes of the poor: giving out cheap food and entertainment, “bread and circuses“, would be the most effective way to rise to power.”
In 2011, many historical events have taken place, not the least of which is the overthrow of three (count ‘em three) dictatorships in Northern Africa, and another tipping (Syria.) My friend Suzanne Roberts (check out her blog) stated the discrepancy between Libya’s family dictatorship and the common people, and that populations everywhere (i.e., the very wealthy) might want to draw some conclusions from what happens when vast numbers of people feel they are not being treated equitably.
I have danced around and made many explorations toward the nature of wealth in many places in these blog entries. I believe the reality is really quite simple. If those who are in a position to do so are not contributing a fair amount (taxes) toward the good of society, at some point, society at large turns on those individuals. This is being proven now, and one of the most incendiary reasons for the recent state of overthrowing has been the cost of food… especially when most of those Arab Spring nations’ citizens earn very, very little annually.
And so what about U.S. citizens? Consider Zachary Roth’s report on Yahoo News this past February. The apparent inability of the very wealthy to understand that to create wealth, one needs a large amount of people purchasing goods and services you either own or have invested in, is astonishing. And this plays back into one of my pet peeves: those who are in the position to make decisions for the rest of us (hear me, Congress?!?) rarely look beyond the time frame of their own life spans. I’ve mentioned it before, and I’ll do it again and again.
Get a clue, folks: The future requires selfLESSness, and more than a modicum of common sense. You can’t get blood from a stone, and if you don’t have a population that is growing its middle class economy… i.e., regular folks earning more and able to BUY stuff, then your entire economy goes down the toilet. 
One has to wonder, just how much wool can be pulled over voters eyes in the coming months… just how much “bread and circus” will take place in order to appease and forward some genuinely sinister agendas. The idea of “trickle down” has been a naughty joke for decades, hence the poster here from thirty years ago.
Author Gore Vidal has often commented that the United States has but one political party, “The Property Party.” If this were widely accepted, would we keep throwing up leaders that, for the most part (and according to billionaire Warren Buffet) simply wish to coddle up to those with staggering amounts of dough… instead of doing the right thing for the future of our nation, and perhaps more. Surely, we’ve learned enough by now. I, for one, would like to see some progress. Wouldn’t you?
