Julius Caesar, JFK, FDR, and real American economic reform

[hedda_foil]

14. Wow! I just saw the whole lecture and I'm in awe of Professor Parenti.

What struck me most vividly were 3 things:

1. That Caesar was in many ways the Roman version of FDR. (My interpretation, not directly stated by Parenti.

2. That the Roman Republic was ruled by a small number of incredibly wealthy oligarchs in the Senate whose definition of freedom was pretty much identical to the Kochsters. i.e., their own freedom to do whatever they wanted to increase their own wealth. They saw the people as nuisances at best, and felt justified in kicking small landowners off their farms and replacing free workers with slaves.

3. That whenever a more populist leader achieved power, they were somehow assassinated. Not just Caesar, but quite a few others over a century or more. e.g., The Gracchus brothers, who have been compared to JFK and RFK.

Thank you both for sending me to Palenti. I'm off to find some of his books and lectures.