Musk, Trump and Bezos have led me to reconsider my stance on eating the rich | Opinion
In no way do I advocate a serious interpretation of 'eat the rich,' a political slogan that has come and gone since the late 18th century. But I am starting to feel a bit peckish.
The early days of the new billionaire-heavy Trump administration are making the French-Revolution-era phrase “eat the rich” great again, leading some to ponder the hypothetical palatability of oligarch meat.
Billionaire Elon Musk, looking tastier by the day, appears to have effectively purchased the presidency of the United States and assumed the role of the federal workforce’s “Worst Boss Ever.” Probationary employees and career federal workers are being fired willy-nilly, federal contracts are being axed right and left, vital aid to other nations has been cut off and funding for medical research into diseases like cancer has been dropped like it was a magazine subscription America forgot to cancel.
The dictionary definition of “cruelty” could now be accurately updated to read: “see Musk, Elon.”
Billionaires like Trump and Musk are making 'eat the rich' great again
But he is far from alone. President Donald Trump, himself very rich, likely nicely marbled and a noted fan of famed cannibal Hannibal Lecter, ran on populist promises of looking out for the little guy, then proceeded to go full-oligarchy with his Cabinet choices.
As Axios reported in December, “Trump has assembled an administration of unprecedented, mind-boggling wealth,” adding: “It's not hyperbole to call this a government of billionaires.”
The result, thus far, is an administration that has done zilch to lower food prices, as was promised, or to make life better for the average American.
In fact, inflation has ticked up, thousands upon thousands of Americans are losing their jobs thanks to the federal job cuts and chicken eggs have become the new caviar.
In no way do I advocate a serious interpretation of “eat the rich,” a political slogan that has come and gone since the late 18th century. But I am starting to feel a bit peckish.
Republicans saw blowback in town hall meetings ‒ and they ran
The budget resolution just passed by the Republican-led U.S. House of Representatives will cut taxes for rich folks, balloon the deficit and lead to dramatic cuts to Medicaid or Medicare or both.
Republicans got a taste of the public's growing discontent when a number of them faced serious constituent pushback at a series of recent town-hall meetings.
The GOP swiftly and opposite-of-bravely encouraged members to stop holding such meetings, Iest they become what's for dinner.
Perhaps the French Revolution was trying to tell us something
The "eat the rich" slogan is attributed to philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau, who is believed to have said: “When the people shall have nothing more to eat, they will eat the rich.”
The line has long been used to rail against wealth inequality.
Musk and Trump and Co. have not swung me to cannibalism.
But they certainly make me want to sing that song loudly.
Bezos bends knee to Trump, and disgraces Washington Post
Beyond the Scrooge McDuck-like nature of the Trump administration, there are the billionaires backing it. People like Jeff Bezos.
He owns The Washington Post, spiked the newspaper’s endorsement of former Vice President Kamala Harris prior to the 2024 election and has been sucking up to Trump.
Just this past week, Bezos announced that his once-proud national newspaper’s opinion pages will now focus only on “personal liberties and free markets.” That’s billionaire-speak for “opinions that will benefit me.”
By Friday, NPR reported more than 75,000 people had canceled their digital subscriptions to The Post in protest.
Maybe 'eat the rich' isn't fair just yet ... but we'll see
So look, again, I’m in no way suggesting we should consider the meal-i-tization of self-interested billionaires who appear to have assembled, like a reverse-Avengers, to vacuum up all the money and leave us with moldy bread crusts.
Still, I will say my views on “eat the rich” are evolving. And I’ll note I searched Amazon for a Bezos-sized sauté pan and found nothing. So, you know, read into that what you will.
A reasonable person could argue this governance-by-bazillionaires era is too new for us to slide fully into “eat the rich” rhetoric.
So my suggestion is this: See how things unfold. And keep your recipe book handy.
Follow Paste BN columnist Rex Huppke on Bluesky at @rexhuppke.bsky.social and on Facebook at facebook.com/RexIsAJerk