by Chris Banescu

“The Haves and the Have Nots” is a very common phrase used often in the mainstream of American society and in the social and political discourse; many times by Christians trying to equate its meaning with the Christian principles of charity and caring for the poor. You hear it being used constantly in newspaper and magazine articles, on television and cable news shows, in university lecture halls, in congressional, presidential and other political debates, and even in many religious circles. Yet few people realize and understand that this very same phrase and its implications come from a different time and place. The origins of this seemingly benign comment come from an ideological past rife with violence, murder, terror, and mayhem.

The birthplace of this phrase is a past drenched with the blood of countless innocents tortured, enslaved, imprisoned, and sacrificed in the pursuit of punishing the “haves” at the hands of the “have nots” and allegedly trying to even out the imbalance between the rich and the poor. The expression was used and continues to be used by communist revolutionaries as they sought and many still seek to sow the seeds of envy among their people, stoke the fires of revolution, and incite civil wars based on jealousy and resentment between economic and social classes. [Read more…]