The Other Barbarians At the Gates

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Pressler writes: "It's hard to think of any superrich person as vulnerable ... But over the past few months, it's become clear that rich people are very, very afraid."

Billionaire Jeff Greene. (photo: Corcoran Realty/AP)

Comments

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+17 # Scott479 2012-08-12 19:33

So Greene gets it-so too did Obama who pressed hard for his NDAA in order to defend his friends in the Hamptons with our military.

+15 # cordleycoit 2012-08-12 19:45

Yet another psychopath richie bet he like some of Chicgo brothers does not pay when he can get away with it. In Aspen Colorado they rule under the name The Mean Rich and they are. What happens is money shrinks their Honor Gland and they die sniveling about taxes or the high price of drugs.

+25 # DPM 2012-08-12 20:33

Fix it or lose it, Mr. Greene!

+59 # Buddha 2012-08-12 20:45

I think down deep the SuperRich know popular revolt is coming because of their policies...whic h is exactly why they had their puppets in Congress (and the White House, sad to say) pass the NDAA and CISPA and have funded the militarization of our police forces through the DHS, etc. They are getting ready to implement a corpo-fascist Police State in the truest sense of the word. No need to worry anymore about revolt when you can throw people in a dark hole forever without trial just by calling them a suspected "terrorist", and when you have the reins of a police state able to monitor all electronic and voice traffic in our country. Heck, they are even getting drones into the act like we are Afghanistan. The coordinated crushing of the Occupy protests were a presage of what is to come...and should have been a wake up call to what they are doing. But Americans have been dumbed down so bad that most just don't pay attention. There will be a time very soon when "subversive" posts like this will be suicide and a one-way ticket to a dark hole somewhere.

+28 # WillD 2012-08-12 21:15

You people can talk as much as you like - don't you think you talk too much? As if things aren't clear. We have been taken over by an elite of rich guys who do nothing for society. In all their narcissism, they think that they are essential, but the only thing they have been - consistently - it to destroy employment, to move manufacturing out of the country, to develop endless schemes of speculative capital which never benefited anyone who has to work for a living. I know that it is against the rules to encourage violence and besides, it’s not my nature, but, by god, look at history. We are living in the Ancien Regime again. The democratic and socialist movements in Europe *fought* for equal rights, for access to parliament, for social protection, for universal health care, for affordable education, for a decent pension, for some holidays a year, in short, for everything which makes society humane. I come from such a country, and no, it isn’t socialist country. So, I think you people should stop talking. Go organise a strike - when the last big strike in the USA? I never hear about it. Occupy some buildings instead of the lawn in front it. And so on and so forth. If you want to see things moving to the left: that’s what you got to do. It has been done before, and with success!

+22 # susienoodle 2012-08-12 21:16

I'm not sympathetic to this guy, but intuitively, I think it's only a matter of time until the masses say: ENUF. If Romney/Ryan were to somehow get elected, this would happen sooner. My biggest concern is the wrong side has the guns. But if the do nothing congress doesn't get serious, I think revolution is inevitable. It's just a matter of time. Civil War redux only this time it will resemble the French revolution and not our own.

+1 # lexy677 2012-08-13 10:03

Dream on susienoodle, dream on; "..its only a matter of time until the masses say:ENUF"
The vast majority will NEVER say enough. Look around you; the south, the Midwest,huge portions Arizona,Central and Northern California, New Mexico are mostly neo-confederate in their political and social outlook and like their "dirt poor" great grandparents who were stupid enough to go fight and die in order that the top 1% in their society could own other human beings as slaves,they have been voting for 40 years for the benefit of the top 1%. What makes you think they will ever cry "ENUF"?

+7 # Billy Bob 2012-08-13 16:09

You already said it yourself. The wrong side has the guns. PERIOD.

Even if the gun nuts were primarily left-wing and not the other way around, violent overthrow is impossible. Remember? We live in the "post 9-11" world where "everything has changed", which is a thinly veiled way of saying our government and military will be spying on and brutalizing any disent, much less insurrection. They've already consolidated their power enough to deal with any violence we could dish out.

There's only one thing we could successfully manage:

A GENERAL STRIKE.

Here's a question for ya: How many people would participate? We'd need AT LEAST a 100 million or so. Otherwise, it would be self-defeating too.

Right now, you can't even get 10 left-wingers to discuss politics over the internet without attacking each other. The left isn't exactly known for it's cohesion. This would have to change first.

+20 # Rascalndear 2012-08-12 22:30

Depressing... and they all want more of the same for themselves.. they think they're happy? why do they still want more? Why is it never enough for them? Doesn't sound like happy to me.... and the rest of the world suffers because of their misery.

+2 # oakes721 2012-08-13 06:42

It takes no brains to steal others' share ~ It take no heart.

+8 # genierae 2012-08-13 07:27

This man is uneasy because he knows deep down that he didn't earn the money he wastes buying more and more things. He cheated the rest of us to get it, and now he feels as if it's going to be taken from him. He lives in a warped reality that the rich built on the backs of workers across this country, and though he might be a little more awake than his wealthy friends, he still suffers from many delusions. He needs to watch Dickens', A Christmas Carol until he gets it. Rich is as rich does. Life is not about taking, it's about giving, and when you give truly, from the heart, you receive it back tenfold. I love the expression, "He's not heavy, he's my brother.", because it perfectly demonstrates our purpose in this world. He who is able, must help he who isn't. She who has abundance, must share with she who doesn't. We are all part of each other, and until we realize this, we won't be at peace with ourselves, and our world will continue to disintegrate.

+6 # Capn Canard 2012-08-13 07:41

Wow, this can't possibly be the best that we can get to be in favor of wealth redistribution. Greene is trying, but he is stuck in the same paradigm that created the problem and those he is trying to convince are just as ignorant and apathetic as those of the ignorant working class. Perhaps he needs to act rather than talk. Use his money to directly benefit the poor rather than trying to convince the greedy to share their wealth.

+2 # Vardoz 2012-08-13 08:03

The American people need to fight for a level playing field that will uplift all the people of the nation and make sure all have what they need for their health, safety and welfare. Period end of story. We won't get it if we don't fight for it.

-4 # MendoChuck 2012-08-13 08:09

WOW! The comments are more radical than the article.
The Left Wing is concerned about The Right Wing and the Right Wing is concerned about the Left Wing.

We'll have to wait and see who jumps off the cliff first.
Not a healthy situation for this coming election . . . .

+9 # genierae 2012-08-13 08:41

MendoChuck: Truth is only radical in the sense that it comes from the source, and most of these comments are based on truth. Republicans abhor truth and run away from it whenever they hear it.

+8 # Billy Bob 2012-08-13 15:41

You can't always avoid conflict by pretending both sides of it are equally wrong. Sometimes you have to grow up and pick a side.

+1 # Billy Bob 2012-08-13 16:02

He bought her a diamond for her throat
He put her in a ranch house on a hill
She could see the valley barbecues
From her window sill
See the blue pools in the squinting sun
Hear the hissing of summer lawns

He put up a barbed wire fence
To keep out the unknown
And on every metal thorn
Just a little blood of his own
She patrols that fence of his
To a latin drum
And the hissing of summer lawns
Darkness
Wonder makes it easy
Darkness
With a joyful mask
Darkness
Tube's gone darkness darkness darkness
No color no contrast

A diamond dog
Carrying a cup and a cane
Looking through a double glass
Looking at too much pride and too much shame
There's a black fly buzzing
There's a heat wave burning in her master's voice
The hissing of summer lawns

He gave her his darkness to regret
And good reason to quit him
He gave her a roomful of Chippendale
That nobody sits in
Still she stays with a love of some kind
It's the lady's choice
The hissing of summer lawns

-JONI MITCHELL (1975)

(This article reminded me of that song. Ordinarily, I'm not a big fan of co-opting lyrics and pasting them on a thread, but I think this song pegs that entire mentality.)

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