My Thoughts on the Protests Heard 'Round the World

I will admit that I've waited on purpose to write anything about the "Occupy Wall Street" (OWS) movement.  I was sure that comparisons of OWS and the Tea Party would be inevitable, and I knew that my own personal political perspective would align more readily with OWS.  I was not surprised to see the reaction from folks on the Tea Party side, particularly its leaders, but have been hearing that some self proclaimed Tea Party supporters also support some aspects of OWS.  I happen to like that OWS is taking its time to settle on anything specific, with regard to demands, because it affords the movement with an opportunity to embrace many different types of folks.  I like that there is a diversity of issues that have brought people together to public squares throughout the country, and even around the world (I love that The Guardian has an entire section of its site dedicated to OWS.  I pray that OWS does not become to the Democratic Party what the Tea Party has become to the Republican Party, because I believe that the issues that motivate folks to support OWS transcend tired party line constructs.

I certainly can explain why I support the concept of OWS.  It boils down to the fact that virtually no one who was responsible for the collapse of the American economy has been held to account.  I still think about the film "Inside Job," and I get angry.  I still think about the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission's report, and how it remains a far cry from the old Pecora Commission efforts following the Crash of 1929.  I still think that the Dodd-Frank law didn't go far enough, and was weakened by financial industry lobbyists.  I still think about Joseph Stiglitz's brilliant essay, "Of the 1%, by the 1%, and for the 1%," in Vanity Fair. 

In essence, I find that the lack of a real effort on the part of our government to make sure that something like what happened in 2008 never happens again to be appalling, and I also find it outrageous that so many in the upper echelons of Wall Street have been let off of the hook.  Sadly, I have little expectation that anything substantive really will be done to right that massive multi-trillion dollar wrong.  And I cannot help but laugh at the notion that calling for actual justice for destroying the American economy and the net worth of millions of Americans is derisively dismissed as "class warfare."