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LiberalArkie

(19,706 posts)
Fri Mar 13, 2026, 12:58 PM 6 hrs ago

The Same Families Who Tried to Overthrow FDR Are Running The Government Right Now

In 1933, a circle of Wall Street financiers allegedly hatched a plan to overthrow Franklin Roosevelt. They didn’t want to kill him. They wanted to keep him in his chair, smiling for photographs, while a puppet official — controlled by the men who paid for the operation — ran the country.

This was the during height of the Great Depression. For the average American, life was one in four men out of work, and the other three terrified they were next. Families lived in shacks made of scrap wood and tar paper. Children went to school hungry. Men walked miles every day looking for work that didn’t exist.

And while all of that was happening the richest families in America — the Du Ponts, the Rockefellers, the J.P. Morgan crowd — were losing their minds over FDR. They were used to running everything. And while they sat in their gilded dining rooms arguing over estate taxes, outside people were dying.

Much like today — the wealthiest 1% owned more than the bottom 40% combined — and these men had the nerve to call Roosevelts ideas dangerous.

Americans were suffering, and close to revolting, and FDR knew it. So, he started to put laws into place to help the average American instead of the ultra-wealthy. And the billionaires were pissed. So they started to scheme. The scheme (known as the Business Plot) failed. The scheme collapsed when the general they recruited refused to play along and reported it to Congress. No one was prosecuted. The ambition, however, never died.

Snip



https://dissentinbloom.substack.com/p/the-same-families-who-tried-to-overthrow?fbclid=IwY2xjawQhIEhleHRuA2FlbQIxMABicmlkETFrV0NYTW9pT1c5elBQUTc4c3J0YwZhcHBfaWQQMjIyMDM5MTc4ODIwMDg5MgABHvzkctj0YpiCy8cyqJgVOgaO2n80r2DjCJqoHa_eIZNJaYEB_EORaDKiE9Qa_aem_HJgZvDgp31LQJ7GmL-2VvQ

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The Same Families Who Tried to Overthrow FDR Are Running The Government Right Now (Original Post) LiberalArkie 6 hrs ago OP
K&R orangecrush 6 hrs ago #1
I wonder whether the families of the heroic General Smedley Butler are still around Wicked Blue 6 hrs ago #2
Wish I'd written that. Kid Berwyn 6 hrs ago #3
Wow, I wasn't even alive back then... blue_jay 3 hrs ago #17
When you say that you were alive "back then" wnylib 1 hr ago #20
K&R 2naSalit 6 hrs ago #4
Rachel Maddow told us Easterncedar 6 hrs ago #5
She did... 2naSalit 6 hrs ago #6
I heard of the coup attempt from my grandpappy when I was a preteen. Yea, he was a socialist. LiberalArkie 5 hrs ago #8
Are you talking about Prequel: An American Fight Against Fascism? ShazzieB 3 hrs ago #15
Thanks! I knew I should have checked! Easterncedar 3 hrs ago #16
Sort of like the High Table from the John Wick series. patphil 5 hrs ago #7
Take a look dweller 5 hrs ago #9
Not exactly shocking but still crazy and fucked up LymphocyteLover 5 hrs ago #10
K&R c-rational 4 hrs ago #11
Greed is the most destructive addiction there is. Dave Bowman 4 hrs ago #12
Wheel Of Fortune gfarber 4 hrs ago #13
Your BuyMeACoffee page says you use AI. Do you use it for your poetry? highplainsdem 4 hrs ago #14
Great graphic! yellow dahlia 1 hr ago #18
K&R for, excellent history UTUSN 1 hr ago #19

Wicked Blue

(8,833 posts)
2. I wonder whether the families of the heroic General Smedley Butler are still around
Fri Mar 13, 2026, 01:23 PM
6 hrs ago

I think most of us are hoping for a hero or heroes to save us from the oligarchs.

blue_jay

(251 posts)
17. Wow, I wasn't even alive back then...
Fri Mar 13, 2026, 04:40 PM
3 hrs ago

just kidding, technically I was more than just alive, just wasn't as politically attuned or awake as I wish I had been. I have to repeat the wow though. So much fascinating info in your OP and that thread. Scary that so much of this was observed and foreseen and yet not stopped (was it even stoppable?) in its tracks. Why isn't info like this in our history books for public school these days (am assuming it's not)? We need a whole separate education on the history of politics here and worldwide. Who is writing (or banning) our modern textbooks for schools? Is there a better way to educate societies? Not expecting answers to my questions, just venting and thinking "aloud".

wnylib

(25,742 posts)
20. When you say that you were alive "back then"
Fri Mar 13, 2026, 06:07 PM
1 hr ago

but not politically active, which date in the previous post were you referring to,? 1938 or 2011?

LiberalArkie

(19,706 posts)
8. I heard of the coup attempt from my grandpappy when I was a preteen. Yea, he was a socialist.
Fri Mar 13, 2026, 01:57 PM
5 hrs ago

ShazzieB

(22,504 posts)
15. Are you talking about Prequel: An American Fight Against Fascism?
Fri Mar 13, 2026, 04:02 PM
3 hrs ago

I need to read that myself.

Easterncedar

(6,119 posts)
16. Thanks! I knew I should have checked!
Fri Mar 13, 2026, 04:07 PM
3 hrs ago

When it came out I bought 2 copies and mailed one, which got lost, so I sent my copy to replace the gift before I got far into it myself. Now I need to hit the library to finish it. I am going to fix my earlier post. Thanks again!

gfarber

(262 posts)
13. Wheel Of Fortune
Fri Mar 13, 2026, 03:43 PM
4 hrs ago


In '33, some men schemed quite bold,
To seize power, but not with a hold.
They'd keep FDR there,
With a smile and a stare,
But the country they'd secretly control.

The Du Ponts and Rockefellers too,
Weren’t happy with what FDR’d do.
They didn’t like laws
That helped common folks’ cause,
So they plotted, though they’d never pull through.

The poor suffered, their lives full of pain,
While the rich danced in gold, in champagne.
They feared Roosevelt’s might,
And though they were right,
Their plot was in vain, all in vain.

A general they sought to command,
But he didn’t take the job as planned.
He turned them away,
And so came the day,
When their scheme fell apart on the land.

But the ambitions, though thwarted, still grew,
The rich men weren’t done with their view.
The plan was a bust,
But in power, they trust,
To control what’s in store for me and you.

The wheel of fortune spins again,
As the wealthy take charge, now and then.
Their plots never end,
They’ll always contend,
To keep power in hands of their men.


© 2026 Glen Farber. All Rights Reserved.

https://buymeacoffee.com/gfarber




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