OCCUPY LONELY MOUNTAIN!

A Facebook conversation with a friend got me thinking that Tolkien's The Hobbit can be read as a parable of the 99%.

The Dwarves are traditional artisans who have been locked out of their livelihood by the greed of a rampant monopolist: Smaug, whose very name is redolent with unregulated corporate pollution, and who clearly has no need for the piles of gold he sits upon, but which represent the fortune of the entire Dwarf community. So we see the result of funneling all profits toward the 1%.

Bilbo fills the role of a union leader who is trying to restore the Dwarves to their birthright. Of course, he's branded a "burglar," since in the eyes of the capitalist class he is trying to "steal" Smaug's wealth, which in fact Smaug himself stole in the first place.

Gandalf, who brings the Dwarves and Bilbo together, is a figure from an earlier generation and a veteran of past fights against evil forces. With his long white beard and flowing robes, he represents the aging hippie, still fighting the social battles of the 1960s.

The men of Long Lake, who initially are an obstacle to Bilbo and the Dwarves, represent the Tea Party: Their interest is in protecting the status quo, and they don't realize that they have been fooled by the 1% into working against their own self-interest, since their own community would thrive once again if Smaug were ousted from his monopolistic position.

The giant spiders of Mirkwood, however, are just giant spiders.

Simple!