Don't Believe Your Own Press Clippings

It’s hard to think of a more precipitous fall than Marie-Antoinette. France was desperate for change after the disastrous reign of Louis XV, and into that void waltzed Marie-Antoinette. She was the empress of Austria and at 15 was married to Louis XVI and became queen. When Marie-Antoineete rode through Paris for the first time, adoring crowds swarmed and rejoiced seeing  her. She was the embodiment of the new France: young, vigorous, beautiful, and all the things France would become. However…

Rather than a symbol and hope for the future, Marie-Antionette devolved into an out of touch, tone deaf, spoiled brat. As queen, her belief that people owed her affection and devotion was disastrous. As her excesses were revealed while the country was deteriorating, the writing was on the wall. When the French Revolution began, she had chances to heal the wounds, but refused to make any effort, and remained in seclusion appearing once at the royal opera, where the crowd hissed at her. Not a good sign.

Sadly, her type is not uncommon. They live in their own bubble, surround themselves with cabinet members who fawn over everything they do or say, and they lose touch with any sense of regular folks. Like Marie-Antoninette, they bulldoze over others with self-righteous arrogance because, after all, they deserve the lavish praise and devotion. And yet, I sense a reckoning or awakening,  that the “let them eat cake” crowd doesn’t quite yet see.