Huey Long “Barbeque Speech” On Wealth Inequality

The Kingfish

Have you ever heard of the politician Huey P. Long, aka “The Kingfish”? Huey was a prominent political figure from the state of Louisiana. His political heyday was in the late 1920’s up to 1935 when he was assasinated in the Louisiana Capitol Building. He became well-known throughout the United States during the Great Depression of the 1930’s. In order to stimulate the economy, he advocated a program he called “Share Our Wealth”.

Millions of Americans joined Share Our Wealth clubs which were springing up all across the country. Long was either loved as a populist champion of the poor or hated as a dictatorial demagogue who was a threat to democracy. In the 1920’s when Long argued a case before the U. S. Supreme Court, Chief Justice (and former president) William Howard Taft called Long “the most brilliant lawyer who ever practiced” before the court. Long was mortally wounded by a lone assassin in September of 1935.

Share Our Wealth Program

The basic gist of Huey Long’s Share Our Wealth program was that way too much of the wealth of the United States had become concentrated in way too few people. These mega-rich individuals used their riches to buy political influence and continuously tip the scales of the system in their favor. He advocated for a wealth tax and wealth redistribution program he called Share Our Wealth. In December of 1934, he gave a speech before the Washington Press Club that history has labelled the “Huey Long Barbeque Speech”. It is freely available on the internet if you wish to actually listen to it. I will give you a few passages to give you an idea of the flavor of the speech.

The Barbeque Speech

“How many men ever went to a barbeque and would let one man take off the table what’s intended for 9/10ths of the people to eat. The only way you’ll ever be able to feed the balance of the people is to make that man come back and bring back some of that grub he ain’t got no business with.”

“We have been praying to the Almighty to send us to a feast….The Lord has answered the prayer. He has called the barbeque: ‘Come to my feast’ He said to 125 million American people. But Morgan and Rockefeller and Mellon and Baruch have walked up and took 85 percent of the vittles off the table.”

“Now how you going to feed the balance of the people? What’s Morgan and Baruch and Rockefeller and Mellon gonna do with all that grub. They can’t eat it, they can’t wear the clothes. They can’t live in the houses. Give ’em a yacht! Give ’em a palace! Send them to Reno and give them a new wife when they want it, if that’s what they want.”

” But when they’ve got everything on God’s loving earth that they can eat and they can wear and they can live in, and all that their children can live in and wear and eat, and all their children’s children can use, then we got to call Mr. Morgan and Mr. Mellon and Mr. Rockefeller back and say, ‘ Come on back here. Put that stuff back on the table here that you took away from here — that you don’t need. Leave something else for the American people to consume’. And that’s the program.”

It’s Concentrated

Wealth in America is concentrating more and more into fewer and fewer hands as the years roll on. The wealthiest 1 percent of Americans now possess 40 percent of the nation’s wealth. The top 10 percent hold about 75 percent, while the bottom 90 percent holds roughly 25 percent of the nation’s wealth. Picture a large pie sliced into ten slices to serve ten people. One guy comes along and takes seven and a half of the slices for himself. This is where things stand nowadays.

Of that 40 percent owned by the top 1 percent, an astounding 50 percent of that is held by just 1/10th of 1 percent! Between 1989 and 2016, the wealth of the nation held by the bottom 90 percent of Americans decreased from 35 percent to 25 percent while the wealth held by the top 1 percent increased from 30 percent to 40 percent. Events are definitely trending in a certain direction. What do you think? How do you feel about this ongoing financial development? Do you believe that the mega-rich are going to be satisfied with stopping at 40 percent? Were they satisfied with stopping at 30 percent? Here is the most important question of all. What can you personally do about it?

Make Your Choice

This concentrated wealth is utilized by those possessing it to purchase influence in the structuring of society’s laws, rules, regulations, and norms. To coin a phrase, “the thumb is on the scale”. That is why it is absolutely critical that you make the choice to learn how to effectively use the true power of your subconscious mind to manifest the reality that you desire. Your subconscious mind is your direct connection to the Almighty, the Divine Force that supersedes everything, everybody, everywhere, the Divine Force that holds everything in the universe together.

A Stacked Deck

You are no match against the raw power of the billionaires. The deck is heavily stacked in their favor. Their ultimate plan is clear — to take even more of the nation’s wealth than they now possess. A lot more. Unfortunately, their intent is to simply crush anyone who gets in their way and control the rest. Fortunately however, billionaires are no match whatsoever against the power of the Kingdom of God. And the good news is that the Kingdom of God is within you always. Believe it. It is the way the Creator made you. Make the choice to live your life with true power. Power that does not come from society but from the Kingdom of God. The power of the Kingdom of God within you is stronger than all the world’s billionaires. It is your protection. It is your peaceful fortress.

Conceive. Believe. Receive.

Jesus Christ stated it with crystal clarity. “Whatsoever things you desire, believe that you have received them, and they will be yours.” Your belief has to go beyond your surface consciousness. It has to go far beyond “I think I can achieve this” or even “I believe I will achieve this”. It has to go all the way to the end. Your belief has to go to the “I have already received this” belief level. Most humans, myself included, find this difficult to do for extended periods of time. Doubt and fear always want to crash the party. If however, you are one that is able to do it, then my friend, you have in your hand the golden key that opens the door to your success regardless of any and all societal conditions, conundrums or chaos.

Conceive. Believe. Receive.