Ruling class may be fomenting a revolution!

In the dying years of the reign of King Louis XVI, many Frenchmen were barely surviving and struggling to keep their families alive and well.

In the meantime, the monarchy continued to enjoy life in the expectation that better days were ahead of them.

They engaged in activities that significantly depleted the Treasury and caused abject poverty on the streets.

At the height of this crisis, the people openly expressed their dissatisfaction with the regime, accusing it of taxing the people excessively without any discernible improvement in their quality of life.

In 1786, when Louis XVI’s Controller General Charles Alexandre de Calonne proposed even more taxes affecting all, including the previously ‘safe’ elite, a general state of unrest was incited across the country.

To forestall certain revolt, the King summoned, for the first time in 175 years, les États Généraux — the main legislative assembly of the time.

TAXES

By the time the assembly was meeting in 1789, the Third Estate, representing the middle classes, was in a state of revolt, eventually breaking off to form their own "National Assembly" representing the people against the other two estates — the clergy and the nobility.

This revolt was exacerbated by the clear disconnect between the rulers and the ruled, immortalised in the arrogant words attributed to a royal princess — “Let them eat cake!”

If this story sounds familiar to Kenyans, it is because it is the current reality for many of them.

This past week we have been treated to theatrics linked to the government’s attempt to increase taxes on essential commodities, even against the protests of Parliament.

The showdown ended up on the floor of Parliament where due to the rapprochement between the President and his nemesis, it was a foregone conclusion that the president’s memorandum raising numerous taxes would prevail.

POVERTY

Parliamentarians treated Kenyans to high theatre, obviously with an eye on the next election, but any serious observer of our political scene knew from the outset that the President would prevail.

He who pays the piper calls the tune, and both the majority and the minority factions in Parliament are beholden to the two principals who shook hands a few months ago on the steps of Harambee House.

We are entering uncharted territory in which many more Kenyans will be pushed below the poverty line by excessive taxation to finance mega projects riven with corruption and rent-seeking, and it is only a matter of time before every single Kenyan makes the connection between the pain at home and their political decisions.

Hopefully our politicians will recognise the moment before the tipping point and make the right decisions to more rationally reduce the pain and improve the people’s quality of life.

However, as long as the current blind political posturing continues as the cost of living rises catastrophically, we are staring at a popular revolution in the very near future.

Lukoye Atwoli is associate professor of psychiatry and dean, Moi University School of Medicine; [email protected]