Let Them Eat (Wedding) Cake

The Bezos wedding, and a story of how a banquet helped end a monarchy

The women were angry.

It was October 5, 1789, in a market in Paris. The French population had positively exploded in the preceding 50 years – but grain production hadn’t kept pace. That, coupled with a few years of bad harvests, pushed bread prices into the stratosphere. By 1789, an average worker spent between 60-80% of their income on bread, leading to conspiracy theories that the nobility was purposely starving people.

And people were, in fact, literally starving.

It was in that context that King Louis XVI held an opulent banquet for 210 at the Versailles Opera House to welcome a new crop of guards. It was a lavish affair – with enough wine that the soldiers ended the night standing on tables and singing bawdy songs, saluting the King and (reportedly) insulting the budding Revolution. (If you ever visit the MET, you can see a depiction of the event – Banquet of the Guards by Jean Louis Prieur le Jeune.)

The apocryphal story of an arrogant Marie Antoinette saying “Let them eat cake” is from this very banquet.

News of the event spread, with Parisian newspapers juxtaposing its extravagance with the struggles of the working class. You can imagine the reaction.

And so on that fateful October day, with news of the King’s banquet still fresh in their minds, women were queued up in the market to purchase bread. What was available was of poor quality and high cost. And they had had enough.

One young woman began to beat a drum.

Others gathered. Still more joined.

And soon, they were walking.

First they went to the City Hall, gathering around 7,000 of their closest female friends along the way and chanting “When will we have bread?”. When they arrived, they took provisions (and two cannons), broke into offices and snatched papers to burn – while impatiently proclaiming that pushing papers was all the city council had done since the Revolution had begun.

All the while, according to testimony, the women loudly complained that “men were not strong enough” to take the action necessary in the Revolution – and they (meaning the women) would do better.

Frankly, they did.

After taking what they needed from City Hall, they turned their attention to Versailles and began the 12-mile walk (in the rain) to the palace. Imagine the sight of thousands of women descending on the opulence of Versailles – muddied, soaking wet, pulling two cannons, and armed with household items and their incandescent feminine rage.

The Women’s March on Versailles was a signal event of the French Revolution – an inflection point, a turning point, a demonstration of the power of everyday people.

When the women returned to Paris, they brought the King with them. Versailles would never again house the King, and France would never be the same.

And it all started because peasant women in a Parisian market who struggled to pay for dusty bread were outraged at reports of the King’s extravagant banquet.

One woman struck a drum, many followed, and history was made.

I thought of that story this weekend.

Image credit: Instagram @Laurensanchezbezos

Images of the opulence of the Jeff Bezos/Lauren Sanchez Venetian wedding positively flooded my social media feeds.

Smirking celebrities besmocked in couture gowns flashed their sparkling jewelry as they boarded little boats to take them to the modern-day equivalent of the Banquet of the Guards. Lauren Sanchez, with a snatched waste and plastered smile, waved robotically.

With full knowledge of the struggles of everyday Americans and people all across the globe, these billionaires openly flaunted their wealth for all to witness, for all to covet, for all to loathe.

“Let them eat wedding cake.”

Bezos and his bride spent a jaw-dropping $50 million on the wedding, which is hard to even fathom. But Bezos is reportedly worth $240 billion; and one billion is 1,000 millions, and money is relative.

So, it’s helpful to create a frame of reference. According to Business Insider, “an average American spending $1 is roughly equivalent to Bezos spending $1.95 million.”

So while his $50 million wedding was an almost unbelievable extravagance for you and I to comprehend, it was as inconsequential to him as going out and grabbing two $10 burritos and a drink on a Friday night.

Heck, it probably costs more than $25 for you to fill up your gas tank so you can get to work.

It is in this context – in this arrogant public display of obscene wealth disguised as a wedding – that we watch Republican Senators contort themselves to pass the GOP budget. This bill is so jam-packed with gifts for billionaires and corporations at the expense of everyday Americans that it’s nearly impossible to describe the full extent of its depravity. I’m truly at a loss, so I’ll let other speak to it.

Oregon Senator Ron Wydan explained simply, “It's the biggest Medicaid cut in history and represents the largest [upward] transfer of wealth in history.”

Maine Senator Angus King said, “I have never seen a bill this bad. I have never seen a bill that is this irresponsible, regressive, and downright cruel.”

Connecticut Senator Chris Murphy said "This is the most deeply immoral piece of legislation I have ever voted on in my entire time in Congress.”

It is all that, and more. It rips health care and food and services and security away from everyday people to give to the wealthy, while saddling the country with more debt.

It tells American families to eat crumbs so that people like Bezos and his bride can eat more cake.

It is an abomination among abominations.

And so. Here we are, friend. We are very clearly at an inflection point in our country.

And because history often sings a similar melody, this weekend I was reminded of those women in a Parisian market over 200 years ago.

I was reminded that on that fateful October 5 morning in 1789, it was the imagery of the King’s extravagance juxtaposed with starvation and poverty that galvanized a community of women to action.

I was reminded that it was one young woman in the market who began to beat a drum. (Do not underestimate the power of one woman.) We do not know the drummer’s name, nor her story. Nor do we know the names and stories of the other women in the market who gathered around her, who began that march with her, who made history to the sound of a drum that she began to strike.

But we know that they were collectively frustrated at the state of their country, and how it was impacting their daily lives.

We know that they were sick and tired of the people who were “in charge” of the Revolution not doing more, or moving faster, or making more progress.

And we know that hearing about the King’s extravagant banquet was one of (if not the) last straw – leading them to take matters into their own hands, to beat a drum, to join arms, and to march.

I don’t know what will happen with the GOP budget today.

But I do know that everyday people are capable of so much more than we give ourselves credit for, particularly when the stakes are high, and clear, and worth fighting for.

It’s always the been people, friend.

It’s always been the people.

Let’s get to work.

Actions for the Week of July 1, 2025

Friend, things may be heavy – but you can lighten that load by doing something small – a “small deed” – to bring about the world that you want to see. In doing so we tell the world, the universe, our leaders – and most importantly, ourselves – that we will not go quietly into that good night.

I call it Action Therapy.

That’s why in each Tuesday post I share a few “small things” – usually a Small Thing to Read, a Small Event to Attend, and a Small Call to Make or Action to Take. My intention here is to give you actions you can tuck into your week with ease – and know that you’re doing something today to make tomorrow better.

Join me in doing so. It matters.

Small Call to Make/Events to Attend: MAGA Murder Budget

As of the time I’m sending this, the GOP’s MAGA Murder Budget is still hanging in the balance. So please get out your phone – let’s make our voices heard on this!

Call your Senators by dialing the switchboard at 202-224-3121.

Script: I’m calling to demand that the Senator vote no on this murderous budget bill. This will be bad for our state and for Americans. It’s the largest Medicaid cut in history, and the largest transfer of wealth in history. It’s going to hurt the people of our state and saddle the country with more debt. I know the Senator is afraid to stand up to Trump but please – we need her/him to do the right thing and reject this bill. Thanks.

As our “events to attend” this week, I’m including all of these signups to phone bank with various groups – these are all scheduled for today, Tuesday July 1. H/T to Rogan’s List for this excellent roundup!

• 11AM ET with Medicaid Defenders, sign up here

• 2PM-4PM ET with BlueVote.org, sign up here

• 3PM-4:30PM ET with Food and Water Watch, sign up here

• 4PM-9PM ET with People’s Action, sign up here

• 5PM ET with Medicaid Defenders, sign up here

• 5:30PM-10:30PM ET with Together for CA Health, sign up here

• 5:30PM-10:15PM ET with Grassroots Democrats HQ and Chop Wood, Carry Water, sign up here

• 6PM-7:30PM ET with Activate America, sign up here

• 6PM-8PM ET with MoveOn, sign up here

• 6PM-8:30PM ET with People’s Action, sign up here

Small Thing to Read: NYT Breakdown of the MAGA Murder Budget

This is an excellent breakdown of the nitty gritty and “cost/savings” of the GOP budget. It’s a bit jarring, honestly, to see it all laid out in apolitical charts. Destruction lends itself to a bar chart, I suppose.

But it’s a very helpful resource to comb through and see what the budget does, and how it does so. Check it out here.

Thanks for reading, friend – I’m glad to see you here! You’re making a difference, I promise.

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