Will we ever have major protests or violence against the rich in the US and

[old mark]

if so, what would be the breaking point?
Personally, I think not.


Your opinion...?

mark

[rzemanfl]

1. As long as the cops have pensions to worry about the rich will

have protectors. What other civilian job allows someone who isn't an athlete or entertainer to retire in relative comfort at fifty?

[Peregrine Took]

16. No cop I know worries about his/her pension. Its a given. Good post. n/t

[PM Martin]

28. TRUE

[tekisui]

2. Hunger would be the breaking point.

As long as we have food (even bad food) the rich are secure.

[ixion]

11. exactly..

[Bonobo]

33. They are already feeding us poison and no one complains.

As long as the poison tastes good and has a good marketing campaign.

[handmade34]

38. excellent point!

[Bloofer_Lady]

3. People don't react in this country....

....unless it directly effects them. Even then people go along with the flow instead of questioning things. I think the only way anything like that could ever happen is if the entire middle class starts living in poverty, which is starting to happen.

[Mimosa]

6. You are right about 'unless it directly effects them'

Bloofer_Lady, welcome to D.U. :D

[Bloofer_Lady]

9. Thank you for the welcome.

:)

[SheilaT]

4. Probably not.

Even among the working class, there is no sense of class solidarity. Some huge percentage of the population consider themselves middle class, even when they are well above or below that definition. And most people honestly believe that they will eventually be in the top 5% of earners, again contrary to reality.

We had remarkably little major protests or violence against the rich during the Great Depression, when things really were a whole lot worse than they are now. I think that says it all.

[jp11]

5. If things keep going wrong as they have for decades

and enough change and reform don't happen while people get poorer and worse off it will happen with some lit match moment. The end of the last 'aid' to the huge lower class, another slight against them like a draft for some war, etc.

Beyond that I don't see it happening, too many people are 'okay', when most people are working 2+ jobs to live and struggling the anger will buildup and I don't think the rich and powerful will be kind or considerate to their plight, I see them not caring and that is where the final straw will come from.

[Joe Bacon]

7. Not as long as TV Preachers keep pushing Pie In The Sky.

TV Preachers keep pushing the Prosperity Gospel telling people that they will get pie in the sky when they die as long as they follow their corporate masters, who God has installed.

And millions of them still buy into the Rapture fairy tale.

Marx was wrong about a lot of things but he sure was right about religion being the opiate of the masses. Religion is far worse than any other narcotic.

[OmahaBlueDog]

8. If we'd let Wall Street burn down instead of bailing it out, and no stimulus was passed

..then you might have seen it.

[Davis_X_Machina]

12. This is why the bailout was so awful...

...it strangled The Revolution in its cradle.

[old mark]

40. That's one reason why it happened and you saw so many congresspersons

running to vote for it.

Haven't seem that much action since.

Probably won't ever see it again.

Congress knows who really pays it.

mark

[Curmudgeoness]

10. I have thought of this before, and when I compare our circumstances

with the French before the revolution, I realize that we are not even close. I also have come to the conclusion that we have to be like Madame Defarge and know that it may not happen in our lifetime, that is how long it can take. I also agree that we have to have a large population that is truly hungry. And the government tries to make sure that does not happen with the crumbs they throw.

[Demeter]

13. It Happened Before, It Will Happen Again

Not extending unemployment is a real good way to get there fast.

[doc03]

14. Well we already have in the Tea Parties. They are protesting

the government bailouts but instead of putting the blame on the rich bastards that made the mess they
blame Obama. What is more mind-boggling the TARP was in the Bush Administration.

[The Magistrate]

17. All That Moves Them Sir, Is That The President Is A Black Man

All the rest of the spiel they give is rationalization and obfuscation to avoid having to admit in public they are simply unreconstructed bigots.

[doc03]

20. You are right n/t

[pscot]

21. Archie Bunker was never just about race.

n/t

[Peregrine Took]

15. The "turtles" are there to protect "them from "us."

[Odin2005]

18. when American Idol ends.

[WinkyDink]

30. Or NASCAR. Or KO.

[leeroysphitz]

19. I hate to be negative but I'm sure that by the time it does happen in th U.S. it will too late.

I say this because I pretty sure it's too late now and nobody has even started pouring the gas to burn the mansions down yet.

[howaboutme]

22. Americans of 2010 aren't the Americans of 1776

Interesting question.

When push comes to shove Americans of today are not the Americans of 1776. We aren't even the Americans of 1970. We have become naive, passive, malleable as clay, media centric, entertainment addicts, and ready to bend over and have a red-white and blue flag jammed up our backside, while we willingly hand over our liberties to the leaders and royalty if we think it might give us a semblance of security.

Georgie was right. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=acLW1vFO-2Q

The first thing that the elite will want before they remove the last vestige of your financial security and net worth is to remove any potential threat, and that will come about by removing firearms from all Americans. When you see that happening the end is near. It won't occur as a moment in time where the government openly says we've nullified the 2nd amendment and want your firearms. It will happen because of the dastardly actions by false flag operatives that will appear and claimed to be carried out by "racist gunmen terrorists gone wild" and intended to create immediate public outcry for action. Congress would hold their investigatory commissions and accede to public anger and pass laws to limit private gun ownership. The obliging media blitz would portray all gun owners as potential terrorists or racists. Take your choice - the terrorists could be portrayed as militia, left wing anarchists, or right wing zealots or all three. The Supreme Court would feel the political heat of these dastardly acts and obligingly rule that the 2nd Amendment doesn't really mean what it says.

Let's pray it doesn't happen. None of us ever want anarchy, but if it does that is how it will come down. Most Americans will be grateful and accommodating for being protected from these terrorists.

[socialist_n_TN]

23. My brother thinks it'll come more about by.........

individual acts against rich people. IOW, instead of somebody getting POed at his boss and shooting up an office, he'll go to the home office and shoot that up. Violent looting and rioting in the more affluent parts of cities rather than the inner city.

I personally don't know, but I know I'M getting more and more pissed every day. It might happen with a spark, but who know what or when that will come.

[muntrv]

24. Not as long as we have clusterfox nooze and the msm acting likewise.

[stray cat]

25. Maybe the homeless will rise up against those of us who have housing?

what will be there breaking point to get revenge on us and kill us all or are you complaining because they are too passive to murder the rest of us?

The rest of the world should really rise up against us as well! Rich is relative - and compared to many - DUers are rich. How many DUers are hungry and out on the street posting on DU?

[applegrove]

26. If another round of tax cuts on the rich happens I think that would lead to demonstrations.

[Stinky The Clown]

27. The world will have to reach near apocolyptic conditions for the drugged populace to rise up

[KillCapitalism]

36. +1

You'd have to see at least 50% unemployment before people would even start to wake up.

[costahawk1987]

29. Neither would get coverage in the U.S.

Our media only covers anti-Democrat protests.

[Forkboy]

31. We're just satisfied enough.

"Is a full belly all it takes to keep you satisfied?"

[Bonobo]

32. Not as long as the cops keep militarizing. Want to see what THIS does to a crowd?

[patrick t. cakes]

34. what the hell is that?

[Bonobo]

35. Link.

http://www.taser.com/products/law/Pages/ShockwaveLE.aspx

[handmade34]

37. makes me think of "REDS"

[L0oniX]

39. They are ready for it.

Become an internationalist and learn to respect all life. Make war on machines. And in particular the sterile machines of corporate death and the robots that guard them. -Abbie Hoffman