Old Regime France, America’s Grand Old Party, and the Gap Between Rich and Poor

by Rick Steves

I'm taking off for Europe in a few days. And when I travel, I enjoy unplugging from the news cycles. But the news hit me with a parting shot: Our Republican-controlled Congress has proposed budget cuts directed at our country’s most vulnerable citizens. I have to ask: What motivates Congressional Republicans to work so hard to exacerbate the gap between rich and poor?

With the disturbing redistribution of wealth in our society in the last generation, I’ve been fascinated by an earlier age of unbridled wealth and decadence that I see in my travels. The châteaux of the "one percent" of the Old Regime — those 17th- and 18th-century French tycoons whose insatiable greed eventually drove their country to such despair that it erupted into violent revolution--provide a vivid example. This video clip from my most recent trip to France's Loire Valley — essentially a tour of one of their homes — helps illustrate the state of our 2015 union in “1715 King Louis” terms.

Bringing home these impressions to an America I care so much about, I've been struck by these words from Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders:

“As I examine the budget brought forth by the Republicans in the House and here in the Senate, this is how I see their analysis of the problems facing our country: It is apparently not good enough that since 1985 the top one-tenth of 1 percent has seen a more then $8 trillion increase in its wealth than what they would have had if wealth inequality had stayed at the same level that it was in 1985. An $8 trillion increase in the wealth of the top one-tenth of 1 percent! Apparently, that is not enough.

Meanwhile, as I understand the Republican view of our country, as manifested in the House and Senate budgets, it appears that millions of middle class and working families — people who are working longer hours for lower wages and who have seen significant declines in their standard of living over the last 40 years —apparently do not need our help. Rather they need to see a major reduction in federal programs that help make their lives, and the lives of their kids, a little bit better.

At a time when we have over 45 million Americans living in poverty — more than almost any time in the modern history of this country — my Republican colleagues think we should increase that number by cutting the Earned Income Tax Credit, affordable housing, and Medicaid. At a time when almost 20 percent of our children live in poverty, by far the highest childhood poverty rate of any major country on earth, my Republican colleagues think that maybe we should raise the childhood poverty rate a bit higher by cutting childcare, Head Start, the Child Tax Credit, and nutrition assistance for hungry kids.

To summarize: the rich get much richer, and the Republicans think they need more help. The middle class and working families of this country become poorer, and the Republicans think we need to cut programs they desperately need. Frankly, those may be the priorities of some of my Republican colleagues in this room, but I do not believe that these are the priorities of the American people.” (Watch more from at Sen. Sanders at https://youtu.be/gB1efQXFThk)

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America’s economy is much stronger than Europe’s right now—but the gains are limited to the top strata of our population. Yet, because of Europe’s different approach to wealth distribution, when I travel I notice that the average European is doing better than then average American. And the poorer-than-average European is doing much better than the struggling American.

I wonder at what point, if ever, our Republican legislators will heed the lesson that the privileged of France's Old Regime learned the hard way: The growing gap between the elites and everyone else is not only un-American, it’s a recipe for instability.

Please help me understand this. If these numbers are correct, how can they be defensible? Are our Congressional Republicans, with their fierce advocacy, public servants or private servants? Considering all of our wealth and resources, is this the best we can do in America?