Anybody can become angry – that is easy, but to be angry with the right person and to the right degree and at the right time and for the right purpose, and in the right way – that is not within everybody’s power and is not easy. –
Aristotle
Paul Krugman in the Times:
There’s something happening here. What it is ain’t exactly clear, but we may, at long last, be seeing the rise of a popular movement that, unlike the Tea Party, is angry at the right people.
What can we say about the protests? First things first: The protesters’ indictment of Wall Street as a destructive force, economically and politically, is completely right.
A weary cynicism, a belief that justice will never get served, has taken over much of our political debate — and, yes, I myself have sometimes succumbed. In the process, it has been easy to forget just how outrageous the story of our economic woes really is. So, in case you’ve forgotten, it was a play in three acts.
In the first act, bankers took advantage of deregulation to run wild (and pay themselves princely sums), inflating huge bubbles through reckless lending. In the second act, the bubbles burst — but bankers were bailed out by taxpayers, with remarkably few strings attached, even as ordinary workers continued to suffer the consequences of the bankers’ sins. And, in the third act, bankers showed their gratitude by turning on the people who had saved them, throwing their support — and the wealth they still possessed thanks to the bailouts — behind politicians who promised to keep their taxes low and dismantle the mild regulations erected in the aftermath of the crisis.
I know I am very much “behind the curve” on this one – having only just seen the DVD of Charles Ferguson’s brilliant documentary – Inside Job – but at least I spotted the connection with Occupy Wall Street Protest straightaway? Having watched the film, I posted a blog about it only 2 days ago; and would dearly love to know whether there is a direct link between large numbers of people seeing the film and deciding to protest? As I have said, there certainly should be.
I believe that the USA should be very proud of the fact that it elected Barrack Obama as president; but I think Obama should be ashamed of himself for promoting (rather than incarcerating) many of those that did so much to make the financial meltdown possible. People have every reason to be mad,. What people like Alan Greenspan did is nothing short of criminal. Note that I said “like”; as no criticism of any particular individual, living or dead, is implied! In any case, I do not have enough money to be worthy of litigation (I promise you).
Hoo, boy, do I have mixed feelings about the Occupy Wall Street movement. They strike me as fundamentally in the same league with the Tea Party in that they’re angrily lashing out at a system they despise, yet have no policy proposals of their own. It’s easy to band together against something; it’s far more difficult to band together in favor of something. That’s why the Tea Party is losing steam: as it starts getting down to brass tacks, a lot of people are finding those tacks unpalatable. I fear that exactly the same thing will happen with the Occupy Wall Street movement: a lot of anger will be unleashed, and everybody will agree that yes, Something Must Be Done, but when they start getting down to specifics, we’ll get the movement tarred by the loonies, and the good ideas will get drowned out by the wild-blue-yonder ideas.
I heartily agree with Mr. Krugman’s point that we should not be talking about lowering taxes, but instead that we should be talking about infrastructure investment. I’m not so sure about debt relief for the middle class; that creates some serious moral hazard. I’d also love to see some of the outrageous subsidies to the oil industry transferred into R&D on higher-efficiency solar PV and better ways of implementing HVDC — as well as broader research into energy and pollution issues. When are we going to get really good genetically modified algae for methane production?
Which infrastructure? When the elites finally agree that infrastructure investment is needed, will they beef up the subsidized autosprawl system? This is a critical battle taking place in the background, though the public transit community is well aware.
At this point, our infrastructure has so many problems that any money spent on it will be of great utility. Our roads are decrepit; public water and sewage systems are showing their age; we need to be adding HVDC lines to carry all that wind energy to where it’s needed; even our justice system is suffering from serious underfunding, costing us far more than we save. Nobody’s talking about expanding the existing road net; we just need to keep the current road net in decent repair.
The problem In the USA of wealth inequality is growing larger. It has been widening for the last 30 years- since the beginning of Reaganomics.
The economic meltdown was a result of those 30 years of easy money, debt of consumers piling up over consumption, 2 asset bubbles- the last one from a huge housing run-up and financial speculation, little or no regulation, and high energy prices caused by inaction for clean energy.
The Wall Street Protestors include many progressives, and other leftists who supported Obama and got stiffed. This movement will in the end will, eclipse the Tea Party The 1% will have a growing voice since they are the ones who have not benefited by the ultra corporatist policies that have been around since 1980.
Well said Peter. I suppose we should be grateful for small mercies; and give thanks for Sarah Palin’s committment to her family.
dammit. I so wanted Sara to run.
Why? Despite the inevitable highly amusing and repetitive gaffs that would have made Dubya look like a genius, how can you be so sure she would have lost?
I think the polls are clear that the vast majority even of republicans would not be able to vote for her.