Ever wondered why people say “Eat the Rich”? This slogan isn’t just a meme, it has roots in the French Revolution, resurfaced in the 1970s, and now dominates protest signs worldwide. But is it a call for change or just a catchy buzzword?
We break down its history, why it’s trending again, and how it became a movie genre in films like Parasite and Triangle of Sadness. Plus, we look at today’s reality: the richest 1% own over 20% of global wealth.
👉 Watch now to uncover the story behind the slogan that shook the world.
0:00 Intro
0:35 Title: Why Eat the Rich Won´t Change the World
0:44 The Origins of Eat the Rich
3:32 The Growing Societal Rift
5:25 How the Slogan Made it to the Movies
9:43 Political Protest in the Digital Age
13:25 Why the Rich Aren´t Very Tasty
REPORT: Ludwig Ernst
CAMERA: Leon Jütte, Evgenij Dubnov
EDIT: Ludwig Ernst
PRODUCER: Oliver Glasenapp
EXECUTIVE PRODUCER: Matthias Frickel
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47 Comments
We need a wealth tax
Is my dearest wish that this wonderful production, which I only begun to watch also recommends wine pairings. A stuffing recipe would be most excellent in advance of Thanksgiving for those of us who celebrate
Top “earners” is better stated top beneficiaries or recipients. Rentiers don’t earn, they recieve
As for the guy who’s going on about there’s no unique criticism of people’s basic motives. This is born out from anthropology.. the cultural anthropologist have a well developed theory why egalitarianism or orthodox hierarchy predominates as a mixture of material and social conditions. Galatian ism is defined as the inversion of dominance hierarchy; the rank and file control the hierarchy and power flows upwards. These concepts are basic to democracy, but the point being is if an individual cannot succeed in dominating, he is far better off with equality. Since almost everyone by definition loses out in a hierarchy the instinctive resentment of dominance leads people to act collectively for their equality
Anyone in this day and age who isn't at the very least a millionaire and still "worships" the mega-rich are just hopeless prole-snobs or bootlickers.
"None are more enslaved than those falsely believing they're free" ~ Goethe.
Slavery and Colonialism never ended, it just took a new form with Capitalist exploitation and Neo-liberalism is an extension of this.
So, you interviewed like a single historian about it? Then proceeded to opine about several movies that although they use the motto, they're still completely unrelated to the origin of the motto, "Eat the Rich". And then made sure to include that you thought the perspective was pessimistic in those films, because all of them criticize the obscenely wealthy and are more in favor of the working class.
Cool, I think it's pretty obvious which side y'all prefer. Bunch of billionaire bootlickers. GTFO with your random movie reviews like you're sharing actual information. I thought y'all were better than this.
Jonathan Swift wrote A Modest Proposal satirically suggesting that the elites could eat the children of the poor.
People will stop worshipping billionaires when they stop worshipping Capitalism and Wealth 💵😮🎉
This type of Capitalism has been around for about 150 years. Let's try Eating the Rich for 150 years then come to a conclusion and change whatever is not working.
Nobody worshipped billionaires. Billionaires owned media that worshipped their own owners. And in this video we apparently have a broadcasting corporation owned by the Zentrum telling us that everyone loves billionaires and there's nothing anyone can do about it while they cut social services for the poor. Almost like 2+2=4.
This fails to highlight that the wealth of the rich and economic struggles of the poor are intertwined. Governments fail to adequately and fairly tax the rich and countries are left with aging infrastructure, overpriced and underperforming healthcare and education. The opportunities for a decent life are stolen by the self serving influence of the rich on politics by which they enforce the growing wealth inequality.
No meaning? Brian Thompson found out the hard way that it has a meaning. Class warfare has been going on for decades, those on the losing side are just waking up to this fact and fighting back.
It is simple, there is a growing inequality, FIX IT!
Time to give them some indigestion 🤣
It's an inhumane system made for humans. There is a reason that the governments of the world deny the existence of alien life. We're the livestock. Not them.
Well, this is a pessimistic and useless video. The conclusion is that there is no conclusion.
Franklin Roosevelt already implemented the solution. Then it was slowly dismantled. The lesson had been learnt. Just go back to what Franklin Roosevelt started.
It is simple. In a truly just and democratic society billionairs should not exist. If you can not be satisfied with 999 million then you never will. The Oligarchs are destroying our societies.
Also….eat the rich!!!!!!!!
💜🧡🙏🏻 … Hopefully
We the people the 90% of us we can actually destroy the rich. We can change the whole system but we have to stop bickering. We have to stop fighting each other and see the real enemy before us the rich and powerful. We outnumber them and when reading this pass that information along. Continue the good fight
"It's time the fat cats had a heart attack"
-Muse
Okay, OR we could just ignore the over analytical ramblings of this video and just say inequality has reached extremes. It needs to be pulled back to levels like the 50s-80s by some mixture of taxation or regulation.
People need to google:
The Rich List: The 24th Annual Ranking of the Highest-Earning Hedge Fund Managers
No. I'm affraid that as long as people have the illusion they are temporarily embarrassed billionaires, the worship will never stop.
And then there are the people centered around the thought that civilizations should revolve around rulers and servants, even if they are predetermined to be only servants.
In rhetorics "eat the immigrant" is way more common than "eat the rich". But indeed, dystpian capitalism probably has already won.
Kaneki Ken: you tried to eat me first, so no complains Jason.
Person: How much money do you want?
Billionaire: More.
No need to eat them, but it would be important to send them to work as much and eat as bad as the poorest.
They would desire to be fried.
There is something the rich hates more than be eaten. The taxes.
We should reverse the idiotic idea that has been served in the breakfasts from the 80s, that taxes are bad. Taxes are the remedy.
Tax the rich. Tax them good.
I HATE RICH PEOOLE. THEY ARE THE REASON THIS WORLD IS SO UGLY AND FULL OF WAR.
11:01 a circle A t-shirt is an aesthetic. What about the words and ideas of Proudhon, Bakunin, Kropotkin, Goldman, Stirner, Bookchin, Graeber?
Fundermental societal change happens when people's consciousness grows. Revolution begins when a person emancipates themselves from mental slavery, not when they buy a cheap shirt from Bezos. DW reducing lifetimes of work and thought to the summation that Anarchism can be bought on Amazon is frankly disgusting bootlicker behaviour.
As a mater of fact no one is eating them. It is the other way around 😂😂😂
This kind of reasoning sounds like the nihilism of capitalism, no need to say or do something because it will be commercialized. There is no alternative. Status quo imprinting.
Money salad
Nah, too many bootlickers out there. This is the beginning of people waking up though.
That scrooge McDuck seems savory.
Good way to ruin my day 😢
People still worship money. It's sad, but a reality.
Billionaires should be illegal. In a truly fair and just society, billionaires should be impossible. Too much money and power concentrate in the hands of an individual will corrupt them to the core, just look at Elon Musk for a vivid example of how too much money made him gone mad!
When DW says eat the rich, you know the jig is up 😀
Just like in any "group" there are thos whom do good and bad .
Yet again our "tollerance" shows , judging people based on the group they are part of .
Million , billion , thousand , nothing it does not matter – just talk to people (realy talk) and do better in rewarding those whom do good .
We are all at fault , we have become very bad at making the correct social choices (the reason why most western democraties are turning to populism)
It ain't the Mexicans ruining the country
Slogan Eat the Rich nice wrapping without any food in it. Neoliberalism main goal you must be participate you must buy Che t-shirts and express you opinion. Slavoj Ziziek described in his book what in town nobody will go to elections. This act of apathy by government was seen as ultimate protest. Same happened in USA, then democratic party removed surgically Bernie Sanders spine in primaries many Bernie voters intentionally voted for Trump from spite from despair from compete apathy, just to wake up establishment form lethargy sleep of doing same thing for rich donors and not for common people. Of course outside USA Trump in 90s and in MTV era was know as face of Yuppies of wall street greedy money obsessed Thatcher "red BMW" boy in London and "black BMW" obsessed Reagan boy.
Same happened in China, "laying flat" is jus amazing proof of Slavoj Ziziek example, even book was written 10 years fore "laying flat" movement started. Protest movement by young people related to apathy to no action.
Remarkably unserious content despite the overblown style. The bottom 80% definitely should begin eating the rich if we want to avoid an even worse fate than the one we live now. Time is actually short. So better get started.
What is the name of that pice of music at the beginning?
This video is ridiculous