Madrid - 12-M 2012 demonstration - 193323

"Eat the rich" is a political slogan associated with

class conflict Class conflict, also referred to as class struggle and class warfare, is the political tension and economic antagonism that exists in society because of socio-economic competition among the social classes or between rich and poor. The forms ...

and

anti-capitalism Anti-capitalism is a political ideology and movement encompassing a variety of attitudes and ideas that oppose capitalism. In this sense, anti-capitalists are those who wish to replace capitalism with another type of economic system, such as s ...

. The phrase is commonly attributed to political philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau, from a quote first popularized during the French Revolution: "When the people shall have nothing more to eat, they will eat the rich".

History

Origin

Pierre Gaspard Chaumette Pierre Gaspard Anaxagore Chaumette (24 May 1763 – 13 April 1794) was a French politician of the Revolutionary period who served as the president of the Paris Commune and played a leading role in the establishment of the Reign of Terror. H ...

, President of the Paris Commune, gave a speech to the city during the

Reign of Terror The Reign of Terror (french: link=no, la Terreur) was a period of the French Revolution when, following the creation of the First Republic, a series of massacres and numerous public executions took place in response to revolutionary fervour, ...

on 14 October 1793 in which he said: The phrase was initially a criticism of the French nobility, but it was later popularized in France as a response to the perceived failures of the French Revolution that perpetuated poverty in the country.

Modern usage

In the 21st century, the phrase is used in response to the increasing wealth inequality and

food insecurity Food security speaks to the availability of food in a country (or geography) and the ability of individuals within that country (geography) to access, afford, and source adequate foodstuffs. According to the United Nations' Committee on World F ...

. In the United States, the phrase was used by the crowd at a rally for progressive Democratic candidate Elizabeth Warren in 2019 in approval of Warren's positions on wealth redistribution, including her position on the wealth tax. In South Africa, the phrase "eat the rich" was used by the

Land Party The Land Party ( gl, Partido da Terra, ) is a Galician political party that was established in 2011. Party platform The party's platform encompasses eight types of sovereignty: * citizen sovereignty, which calls for a political reform based o ...

as its campaign slogan for the 2021 local government elections. The phrase has trended on major social networks online. It became prominent on TikTok in the late 2010s, with users posting videos critical of the rich. Usage of the phrase was noted to have increased following the COVID-19 lockdowns in 2020.

In popular culture

The phrase has been used for the title of a 1987 film and a song for the film by Motörhead. It was also the title of a 1993 song by

Aerosmith Aerosmith is an American Rock music, rock band formed in Boston in 1970. The group consists of Steven Tyler (lead vocals), Joe Perry (musician), Joe Perry (guitar), Tom Hamilton (musician), Tom Hamilton (bass), Joey Kramer (drums) and Brad Whi ...

. The book ''Eat the Rich'' was published by

P. J. O'Rourke Patrick Jake O'Rourke (November 14, 1947 – February 15, 2022) was an American libertarian political satirist and journalist. O'Rourke was the H. L. Mencken Research Fellow at the libertarian Cato Institute and a regular correspondent for ''Th ...

in 1998. The comic series ''Eat the Rich'' debuted in 2021. Many films have been described as "eat the rich movies". This theme was particularly notable in 2019 with the releases of films such as '' Joker'', '' Parasite'', '' Knives Out'', and '' Ready or Not'' and in 2022 with the releases of ''

Triangle of Sadness ''Triangle of Sadness'' (french: Sans filtre, lit=Without Filter) is a 2022 satirical black comedy film written and directed by Ruben Östlund in his English-language feature film debut. The film stars Harris Dickinson, Charlbi Dean, Dolly de ...

'', '' The Menu'', ''and Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery''.

References

Works cited