Before the revolution in 1789, France was divided into three estates. The first estate, the clergy, held great sway over society and the power to levy a ten per cent tax – the tithe.
The second estate was the nobility, including the royal family, who had the ability to collect taxes from the third estate.
The third estate was everyone else, the 96 per cent, from poor peasants to business people.
They had none of the privileges of the other two estates.
The French Revolution upended that system. Their cry of liberty, equality, fraternity became a reality, but only after the horrific Reign of Terror. Between 15,000 and 17,000 people were guillotined.
The second estate was decimated, including King Louis XVI, Queen Marie Antoinette of ‘Let them eat cake’ fame and their son Louis XVII. Many thousands of commoners were also killed.
Revolution triggered by the dissent of starving masses
That revolution was triggered by the dissent of the starving masses – France was on the brink of bankruptcy which was caused by its involvement in the American Revolution and outrageous spending by the King. Inequality and hardship pushed the third estate over the brink.
Inequality today is far worse than it was then. Three men, Musk, Bezos and Zuckerberg own more wealth than over half of all Americans.
Globally, 3.5 billion people, 44 per cent of humanity, live below the poverty line, while the world’s richest one per cent own 45 per cent of all global wealth.
Australia’s 47 billionaires increased their wealth by $28 billion last year – averaging $67,000 an hour. Compare that to your income. It’s no wonder so many are striking for better pay.
Today, the church still has considerable clandestine influence. In Australia, fundamentalist conservative operatives are at work, mainly in the Liberal party, attempting to stack branches and have their candidates elected.
Today’s ‘nobles’ are Rinehart, Pratt and Palmer
The second estate is now regarded as the government of the day, King Charles having little real power, and today’s ‘nobles’ are the likes of Gina Rinehart, Anthony Pratt and Clive Palmer, and others intent on preserving their wealth and privilege. These ‘nobles’ hold considerable overt sway over government.
The third estate, the bulk of Australians, are not happy and feeling the pinch of higher prices. They tend to blame the government of the day, regardless of what’s causing price rises, and are vulnerable to political manipulation.
Liberal opposition leader Peter Dutton disingenuously uses this discontent, as Trump did, to ask people if they feel better off than they were three years ago.
MAGA supporters to their dismay are now finding their demigod lied to them. Egg prices are rocketing, as will fruit and vegetables as they remain unpicked in the fields. Nearly half of fruit and vegetable pickers are undocumented immigrants. They’re too afraid to go to work. Literally millions of people are threatened with unemployment.
Tariffs placed on Canadian, Mexican and Chinese imports will cause steeper price rises, hardship, market chaos and perhaps a recession.
One hundred years after the French Revolution, the fourth estate was established. The fourth estate is the news media, which is supposed to be a watchdog and guardian of the public interest.
Billionaires own media
Alarmingly, the media today is largely in the hands of billionaires. The Murdoch empire has a near stranglehold on print media and his Sky News pumps out virulent conservative propaganda nightly.
What power do ordinary people have to counter the influence of these billionaires? We still have the power of our vote. We can also protest, boycott, strike and speak out.
The problem is many are swayed by lies fed to them by the moguls’ media and falsely believe they will be better off under a Trumpist/Dutton government. Dutton already has plans to decimate the public service and get rid of ‘diversity, equity and inclusion’.
Perhaps these voters will change their minds as they witness the damage and distress caused by Trump’s unfolding coup in the US.
This is where the warriors for truth of the fifth estate come in.
The fifth estate emerged from the counterculture movement of the fifties and sixties. It now consists of those who are actively networking on social media, influencers and bloggers, ordinary people who are reaching out, spreading the word.
Its influence is increasing as mainstream media declines in popularity.
Obviously, not all these networkers are benign. Some are white supremacists pushing vile messages to millions, others promote weird conspiracies.
As a result of Musk degrading X and Zuckerberg kowtowing to Trump, users are leaving X and Meta in droves for BlueSky. These tens of thousands of community activists working together surely have sufficient influence to counter the misinformation and millions of dollars poured into this upcoming election campaign.
Remember how the community came together when government authorities failed during the floods and saved countless lives?
Working together and communicating with our family, friends, colleagues, total strangers, we can avert a disastrous Trumpist government in Australia.
What’s more, we can do so without anyone being guillotined.
Liberty! Equality! Fraternity!
Richard Jones is a former NSW MLC and is now a ceramicist.
For four decades The Echo has printed the stories some people loved, some people hated, and some pretended not to read. If you want us to keep telling the truth, the real truth, not the sugar-coated version. We’ll need your support to keep the presses rolling. 
