Publications: Notes at the Margin

Let Them Drink Oil (May 18, 2026)

 

The phrase “let them eat cake,” often attributed to Queen Marie Antoinette, originated with the French philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau, who wrote, “When told that the peasants had no bread, replied: ‘Then let them eat brioches.’"[i]

 

The phrase, regardless of the source, speaks to the sometimes-fatal disregard by those in power of the public’s economic interests. Such indifference can come back to haunt the speakers and their supporters. After the French overthrew their monarchy, Marie Antoinette was imprisoned and then executed by guillotine in 1793.

 

While Herbert Hoover’s Secretary of the Treasury, Andrew Mellon, was not executed, he was hounded until he died after uttering the following condemnation during the Great Depression:

 

Liquidate labor, liquidate stocks, liquidate farmers, liquidate real estate. It will purge the rottenness out of the system. High costs of living and high living will come down. People will work harder, live a more moral life. Values will be adjusted, and enterprising people will pick up the wrecks from less competent people.[ii]

 

Donald Trump may confront the same fate, especially if he continues the war with Iran.

 

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