Upon being told that the people had no bread, Marie Antoinette reportedly responded, “let them eat cake.”
These infamous words were a stark illustration of the French elite’s careless indifference to the plight of ordinary people. Moreover, they likely fueled the anger that sparked a revolution that overturned the French ruling system.
Had Marie Antoinette not been so out of touch, she might have had a better choice of words.
Although history doesn’t repeat itself, it does rhyme.
I am bringing this up because recently, modern political, financial, and media elites have made numerous “let them eat cake” remarks.
They similarly reveal how oblivious they are to the average person’s problems as inflation spirals out of control, shortages spread, the stock market crashes, and economic prospects look dimmer by the day.
Let’s look at them and examine what they could mean for the social and political environment in the future… and what you can do about it.
Example #1: Inflation Is Good
First central bankers, the mainstream media, and academia tell you there is no inflation.
Then, when inflation becomes undeniable, they tell you not to worry because inflation is only “transitory.”
Then, when it becomes apparent that it’s not merely transitory, they tell you not to worry because inflation is actually a good thing.
It’s not uncommon to see ridiculous headlines like this:
Example #2: No More Turkey at Thanksgiving
After inflation broke through multi-decade highs, it’s no longer possible to maintain the farce that “inflation is good.”
So the elite’s messaging has pivoted to ways the plebs can cope with ever-decreasing living standards.
Last Thanksgiving, it was impossible for the Federal Reserve to ignore the soaring costs of turkey. So, instead, the St. Louis branch had a helpful suggestion for those struggling—substitute delicious turkey for cheaper heavily-processed industrial sludge.
Example #3: Let Your Pets Die
Recently, Bloomberg published an article titled “Inflation Stings Most If You Earn Less Than $300K. Here’s How to Deal.”
It recommended rethinking providing medical treatment to your pets:
“If you’re one of the many Americans who became a new pet owner during the pandemic, you might want to rethink those costly pet medical needs.”
In 2019 a bunch of academics and think tank policy folks were gathered for what should have been an uneventful conference of long-winded PowerPoint and bad coffee. Sadly, it would not stay that dull and predictable…
The presenter finishes his talk. A colleague comments that, due to how close the presenter was to the issues he was describing, there would be a lot of extra scrutiny and challenges ahead.
And the presenter… totally flips out. He felt this was insulting. Now he’s yelling. Demanding an apology.
But now the colleague is offended. He was just making a point and now he feels attacked. So he refuses to apologize.
The presenter starts packing up his things in a huff, ready to leave the conference. The other attendees try to calm the two down but are utterly ineffective. The two men both storm out, shouting the whole way.
Now it isn’t too surprising that something like this could happen at a conference…
But this was a meeting of global experts on conflict resolution.
UN envoys and high-level peace treaty specialists. As Columbia University professor Peter Coleman recounts:
One beautiful bit of irony is that an hour earlier one of the participants had presented an excellent paper on the power of identity issues causing stalemates in Middle East conflicts—and here we all were in the midst of one unfolding, and we were helpless. It was amazing. All of our inspired attempts at resolution fell flat.
A number of years ago (September 2005) when I was still in Bais Medrash in Miami, there was a hurricane warning over Shabbos. It turned out to be nothing, but we weren’t allowed to go outside from Friday afternoon until Sunday morning. On motzei Shabbos we were getting a little antsy, so a friend of mine and I decided to write a song about the Parsha. That week we lained the tochachah. In honor of laining the tochachah this past Shabbos, I decided to actually make the song public. (While this song may offend some, we felt it was more productive then prank calling the radio stations to hear your voice on the radio.)
TTTO: The Middos Song from The Marvelous Middos Machine by Abie Rotenburg. (The original song can be listened to or downloaded here.) You’ll get boils on your knees The worms will eat your trees You’ll bar-b-que your children; you’ll use their flesh as meat The rain it will not come You’ll chew your only son A Jew that messes with Hashem simply will be beat
The tochachah warns you what you get when you are bad Hashem tells us just what he will do So if you want to do what’s wrong and really have some fun You’ll have to take the consequences too
Your eyes they will go blind You’ll lose your peace of mind Your carcass will be food for every bird beneath the sky Your flesh will wear away You’ll be frightened night and day A Jew that messes with Hashem simply will be fried
The tochachah warns you what you get when you are bad Hashem tells us just what he will do So if you want to do what’s wrong and really have some fun You’ll have to take the consequences too UPDATE: Apparently I’m embarrassing my wife. Sorry dear!
