Friday, November 7, 2008

The Share-Our-Wealth Society - A Reprise?


Why weep or slumber America
Land of brave and true
With castles and clothing and food for all
All belongs to you

Ev'ry man a king ev'ry man a king
For you can be a millionaire
But there's something belonging to others
There's enough for all people to share
When it's sunny June and December too
Or in the winter time or spring
They'll be peace without end
Ev'ry neighbor a friend
With ev'ry man a king

--words by Huey Long, The Kingfish

A
few weeks ago, I began thinking about the curious parallels between our President-elect Obama and The Kingfish. It's been more than 75 years since The Kingfish roared to prominence in Lousiana politics. I'd say he's never mentioned in high school history classes these days, and only an afterthought in college. But he is significant, in terms of his political strategy, charisma, and social philosophy given the near-flawless Obama campaign. Henry P. Wickham, Jr. in this American Thinker article, discusses the point in a most thought provoking way. None of us can predict the future, but we have no excuse for not shaping potential outcomes based on learning from the past. Perhaps that is why even President Franklin Roosevelt came to fear The Kingfish and his Share-Our-Wealth Society.

1 comment:

Emmy said...

You'll be glad to know Ethan and I learned about Huey Long in high school. Of course, that consisted mainly of watching All the King's Men. I guess that's better than nothing...

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