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adapted from an article By Henry P. Wickham, Jr.
"Rally us under this young man who came out of the slums of Chicago, who leads us like Moses out of the land of bondage into the land of milk and honey where every man is a king but no man wears a crown, Amen."
Like Obama's ascent, Huey Long's meteoric rise was fueled to a large degree by subterfuge, the effective use of a corrupt local machine, class warfare, and the demonization of business and the successful. Huey Long had a deep animosity toward those who produce wealth and this leveling instinct pervaded his policies. Like Obama, he publically condemned Marxism while effectively applying Marxist principles.
Huey Long as a United States Senator had broken with Franklin Roosevelt because he felt that Roosevelt's confiscatory policies were not radical enough. To broaden the reach of the policies that he and his machine implemented in Louisiana, in February of 1934 he created the "Share Our Wealth Society;" its slogan being "Every Man a King." This "Society," which epitomized Long's view of the federal government as the great leveler, advocated the confiscation of an individual's wealth greater than $5,000,000. He advocated confiscation of an individual's income greater than $1,000,000.
From this revenue Long promised the following goodies: $5,000.00 cash to every family or "enough for a home, an automobile, a radio, and the ordinary conveniences; guaranteed minimal annual income; guaranteed pensions for the aged; guaranteed grants for everyone's education; and bonuses to veterans.
The unspoken and resoundingly foolish premise of the Huey Long's "Share Our Wealth" scheme was the belief that people will continue to work, invest, take risks, and produce tax revenues regardless of the tax rates and the confiscatory policies of the government. For Long, productivity just happened, and its very existence and its fruits were the servant of the right-thinking political class. Thus Long asserted that he would share our wealth, as if the state has a preemptory claim on everyone's earnings.
While living lavishly from the labor of others, both Huey Long and Barack Obama comfortably railed against the vice of greed. Yet both elevate as their overriding principle of government the vices of envy and sloth. In light of this mere reemphasis among vices, it is extraordinary that both Long and Obama and their supporters can exude such an air of moral superiority and self satisfaction. At least greed is capable of producing something useful.
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