There is an unfocused financial rage in the United States.
It was born in the late 1990s on an unholy trinity of accounting swindles, the dot-com collapse and analyst scandals. It grew on a housing boom and bust that created 5 million (and counting) foreclosures, leaving more than a quarter of bank-financed homes worth less than their mortgages. It matured on a growing wealth disparity that eviscerated the middle class and brought back the plutocracy of the 1920s. It reached its peak with the bailout of reckless bankers, who were rewarded for their irresponsibility with what may be the greatest wealth transfer in human history.
Wonkbook: Gingrich and Romney have the same problem
Read analysis
And now it seems to be finding its voice with the movement known as Occupy Wall Street.
Like the tea party, OWS began as a loose collection of people who knew they were getting a raw economic deal but were unsure precisely why. They both started with a surge of grass-roots politics. Both tapped into the national zeitgeist, feeding on the unfocused background radiation of economic angst. When the tea party burst onto the national stage, I had high hopes they would address some of the persistent economic problems that our two-party political system was ignoring. But the direction of the tea party tilted hard right, shifting from the economic to the partisan. Obamacare and taxes — neither of which were responsible for our laundry list of economic woes — became their focus.
That shift created a vacuum waiting for a group of angry Americans to fill it. At first, it did not look like OWS protesters were going to be the ones to step in, especially since the media was mostly ignoring them.
Credit “The Daily Show” with changing all that. Jon Stewart’s team showed a video of a senior New York police officer pepper-spraying young protesters for no apparent reason. New York City may not be Libya, but that clip of abusive police behavior — and the young women collapsing in obvious agony — ramped up the mainstream coverage. What Rick Santelli’s infamous rant on CNBC did for the tea party, the NYPD pepper spray video did for the Wall Street protesters.
Now, the founders of OWS must consider what to do next. They surely do not want to let the momentum and energy dissipate. They see the tea party as hugely influential but highly partisan, and up until now the tea party has been less willing to criticize corporate interests than has OWS. An, the founders of OWS are aware of how the tea party was jiujitsued by the political establishment. They want to avoid a similar fate.
What Occupy Wall Street needs most to become as focused and influential as the tea party is a simple set of goals. Not a top 10 list, as that becomes unwieldy and unfocused. The movement needs a simple three-part agenda that responds to some very basic problems regardless of political party. It must address the key issues, have a specific legislative agenda and effect lasting change. By staying focused on the foibles of Wall Street, and on issues that matter, it can become a rallying cry for an angry nation.
Loading...
Comments