“Eat the Rich!” You’ve heard it at protests, in the media, and maybe echoed its sentiment to friends and family when discussing the state of the world today. The phrase, at the surface level, is powerful and provocative. Hell, we liked it so much we put it on a T-shirt. But where did the phrase come from? While it may feel like it became part of the modern lexicon in the last decade, “eat the rich” has a storied history dating back centuries. So, what does it mean? While we’d love to take it literally, that may be frowned upon by the law. Instead, we’ve plastered the slogan on our Eat the Rich T-shirt that reminds you exactly where we stand during these divisive times.
The History of Eat the Rich
“When the people shall have nothingmore to eat, they will eat the rich.” The quote is attributed to the Swiss Enlightenment philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau during the 18th century. Rousseau uttered the incendiary statement likely while referencing the French aristocracy at the time. The quote is often interpreted as a critique of King Louis XVI, the monarch and key antagonist figure in the French Revolution. The phrase was likely a direct response to the lavish lives the French aristocracy led while the rest of the country struggled to find food to feed their families.
Eat the Rich in the 21st Century
As these words are being written, Mark Zuckerberg’s mega yacht floats nearby in Puget Sound. While the quote's origins date back over 200 years, it's easy to understand the recent, sharp resurgence in its use and popularity in the twenty-first century. Income inequality in the United States is at its most severe in modern history. During the COVID-19 pandemic, as millions of families struggled to keep their jobs, the nation’s billionaires grew 62 percent richer, adding roughly $1.8 trillion to their collective wealth between March 2020 and August 2021.
What “Does Eat the Rich” Actually Mean
In the last year, Elon Musk became the world’s first trillionaire, the President of the United States has added roughly $2.4 billion to his net worth while in office, and the top 1% of earners in the country have collectively amassed almost six times as much wealth as the bottom half of the country. We live in an unprecedented time when wages for most of the country remain stagnant while the prices of everyday goods continue to rise. The calls to “Eat the rich” may not be literal, but for many people, they come from a place of desperation. As pleasant as it is to imagine that we are truly advocating for some type of cannibalistic revolution, what eat the rich actually means is that everyone should pay their fair share. Legal advantages built into the US tax code allow for America’s wealthiest to pay a lower effective federal income tax rate than most middle-income families. While most Americans pay income and payroll taxes on their wages, the extremely wealthy often build their fortunes through appreciating stocks and businesses. These gains generally are not taxed until the assets are sold, and long-term capital gains are typically taxed at lower rates than wages. Wealthy investors can also borrow against their appreciating assets, giving them access to cash without selling those assets or immediately generating taxable income.
So, when we say “Eat the Rich,” we’re not advocating for cannibalism; we’re fighting to live in a society that values every member equally, where every citizen pays their fair share.
