As the large number of the poor increases....

[murray hill farm]

and the small number of the very wealthy get wealthier, wont the wealthy become more and more fearful of the massive society of the poor..and wont they have to do more and more to control those masses? And isn't this already starting to occur?

[Desertrose]

1. ding ding ding

You get the cigar!!!!

[murray hill farm]

2. Ha!

Maybe i am just fantasizing about how when the poor masses get large enough and angry enough...and really pissed...they will rise up and smash the imperial tyrants.

[CityZen-X]

9. Slingblade

In the voice of the main character in the movie Slingblade, "I kinda like the way you talk'.

[murray hill farm]

12. I do love that movie!

[cynatnite]

3. This reminds me of the Roman Empire

I watched a documentary some time ago about why it crumbled. RWers like to say that it was things like homosexuality which led to the Roman Empire's downfall.

The documentary went into great detail about the wealthy and the poor. It was comparable to a small group who wasn't just wealthy, but also powerful. There was no middle class for the most part and most of the population lived in abject poverty.

In another words, yeah, I agree with you.

[MichiganVote]

6. French revolution personified

[Blue Wally]

13. The Roman Empire fell

because of the arrival of mumps, measles, and small pox from Asia struck a virgin population (as it did when the Europeans arrived in the new world). Much of the rural population was struck down and the remainder couldn't produce enough to pay the taxes that supported the imperial infrastructure. The "mob" in Rome had been kept pacified with low cost bread and circuses. The government could no longer afford to subsidize the bread and the poor rioted. At the same time, the rural folk, in addition to not producing as much grain, also did not produce enough raw material (i.e. their second sons) for the legions requiring the Romans to rely more and more on barbarian mercenaries.

[Blue Wally]

14. The Roman Empire fell

because of the arrival of mumps, measles, and small pox from Asia struck a virgin population (as it did when the Europeans arrived in the new world). Much of the rural population was struck down and the remainder couldn't produce enough to pay the taxes that supported the imperial infrastructure. The "mob" in Rome had been kept pacified with low cost bread and circuses. The government could no longer afford to subsidize the bread and the poor rioted. At the same time, the rural folk, in addition to not producing as much grain, also did not produce enough raw material (i.e. their second sons) for the legions requiring the Romans to rely more and more on barbarian mercenaries.

[JanMichael]

4. That would be called a "Banana Republic" yes?

No fear, they're just send out Death Squads to kill Labor Activists and Nuns.

[SoCalDem]

5. Brazil

google it.. along with "poor"..

There are some people who live in super wealthy enclaves .who commute via helicopter because they are so afraid of being ambushed on the roads.. They have security guards for the security guards..and live in walled-in, gated communities... They go out in disguises..

That's what happens when there is a huge disparity in wealth, and there are more poor than NOT poor..

The rise of the middle class in the US was a safety valve and a security measure.. We are losing it..

[DebJ]

7. Let's see; deny them medical care. Kill SSI, SSDI. Kill HUD for

help with low-income housing, and target the disabled housing especially. Keep them working 3 minimum wage jobs so they drop dead at 40, being able to afford only high fat and sugar foods. Send thousands of young men into the line of fire for nothing.
What did I forget?

[ultraist]

10. They also cut food stamps and community college grants

[Deja Q]

8. That's why * is hot to trot on making Patriot Act I, II, etc, permanent!

[ultraist]

11. Maybe they should start sleeping with one eye open! UPRISING ANYONE?

http://civilwar.bluegrass.net/SlaveryAndEmancipation/slaveuprisings.html
Slavery & Emancipation
Slave Uprisings "Sleep With One Eye Open"

Throughout history, civilizations that employed large numbers of slave laborers had to take measures to ensure control of the slaves, and always had to sleep with one eye open, figuratively, in case the slaves rose up in revolt against their masters. The Southern United States, with slaves comprising about 40 percent of the population, had good reason to fear slave uprisings and had seen enough demonstrations of what could happen should an organized revolt develop. Many of the islands in the West Indies, including Jamaica, Barbados, Saint Dominique, and Martinique, had experienced slave uprisings that brought on the wholesale slaughter of the white masters and their families and the burning of the great plantations. The most famous of the revolts, in Saint Dominique, was successful in freeing the slaves, who then formed the independent country of Haiti. As recently as 1832, Jamaica had had the latest of a series of violent slave revolts.

In spite of its long history of slavery, slave rebellions in North America had been few and relatively bloodless. The principal uprisings had been a revolt in New York in 1712; the Stono rebellion in South Carolina in 1739; the Gabriel Plot in Richmond, VA, in 1800; the Denmark Valley conspiracy in Charleston, SC, in 1822; and the Nat Turner uprising in Virginia in 1831.

con't

[KT2000]

15. They love their delusions

gated communities and private security companies - oh yeah - they have their panic rooms too.

Cutbacks are putting more and more mentally unstable people on the street. Who knows what will come about as a result of that compassionate move.
Guns for all!

I am so glad I live in such a moral nation.