#120 / They Just Stopped Believing!

I pretty much like everything about The Sun magazine; however, I particularly appreciate its "One Nation, Indivisible" section. This is a column that reproduces items from The Sun's archives that the editors believe "speak to the current political moment." 

Citing to the current issue, what Frances Moore Lappé has to say about corporations, and what Jim Hightower has to say about the love of money, still rings true:

About twenty years ago, I attended a lecture by a Harvard professor who talked about how corporations operate like modern-day kingdoms. At one time, she said, people believed kings ruled by divine right, and today we seem to believe the same thing about corporations. Toward the end, she asked, “Do you know what it is that allowed people to let go of, overcome, and reject the notion of the divine right of kings?” I held my breath and got ready to take some notes. Her answer: “They just stopped believing in it.” 

“The Broken Promise of Democracy,” Frances Moore Lappé, interviewed by Derrick Jensen, November 1999

oooOOOooo

The Sun: You’ve said that the true political spectrum is top to bottom, not right to left. 

Jim Hightower: Right and Left, conservative and liberal are theoretical divisions. Top to bottom, however, is the reality in which people actually live. 

The Sun: Where does that put wealthy or upper-middle-class liberals? 

Hightower: Well, having money doesn’t mean you can’t rise above your class interests. [Laughter.] Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt are two sterling examples of people who did. The Bible doesn’t say that money is the root of all evil; it says the love of money is the root of all evil. That’s what we have today: an orgy of people who love money and are willing to abandon the common good in pursuit of their own individual fortunes. 

“Thieves in High Places,” Jim Hightower, interviewed by Arnie Cooper, November 2005

Image Credit:

https://www.thesunmagazine.org/issues/521