The remarkable stupidity of Wall Street

By Robert Reich

http://www.readersupportednews.org/opinion2/279-82/8829-the-remarkable-political-stupidity-of-the-street

Before reading this wise analysis by Robert Reich, I had just written the following e-mail in reply to a Tea Party supporter who sent me an article lauding Wall Street and the 1% and condemning the 99% Occupiers, stating that history repeats itself over and over.  The ignorance of the author of the article, a man named Christopher Chantrill, is beyond abysmal--and would be laughable if it weren't for the tragedy it is causing in our country.  Here is one quote: [The Occupiers'] dream is already realized in democratic capitalism, the bourgeoisie dignified and free, as Deirdre McCloskey writes, inspired to creativity and service, working within a framework that transcends political power, identity, fear, and force. (My underlining) Where does one even start to address ignorance and arrogance of that magnitude? Following is my poor attempt at it, in my reply to its sender:

The article you sent me is obviously written by someone with plenty of money and no empathy for others -- in other words, a Republican.  Yes, history does repeat itself, over and over and over; that part is the only truth in the article.  We have gone beyond farcical in the U.S. with the repeat of dolts running for president, and each time around, the dolts get worse--just look at the slate presented by the GOP this time around. They're a spiral downward even from the worst of the worst, Bush and Cheney.  As for the author saying this about the Occupy Wall Street folks: They don’t want capitalism to work, because if it did, it would rob them of exciting teenage street action, that is by far the most ignorant remark in the entire piece, which is filled with ignorance from top to bottom.  Capitalism mixed with extreme greed at the top is no longer workable for the people or the country. We now live in an oligarchy, in which the oft-touted benefits of capitalism do not work for the majority of the people. The Tea Party supporters don't realize it, but they are working against themselves in supporting the corrupt 1% bandits who have robbed our country of its democratic principles.  What a sad state of affairs.

When the greedy elite at the top hold everything for themselves, nothing trickles down to the rest of the people -- the wealth all stays at the top. Look around you! Your friends and neighbors are suffering--oh, maybe not on your street, but certainly in your town, in your state, and in all the states of the country. These are the people who are marching in the streets--they are desperate!  Some are living in their cars and cannot even feed their children because they've lost their jobs--and unemployment benefits have run out. What answer do the Republicans give them?  Let's cut out more benefits for those in need, rather than raising taxes on the rich. What supreme ignorance! They are bringing down the entire country in order to preserve the insane lifestyles of the rich.

The truth is, we do not have a democratic republic and, lacking a Teddy Roosevelt to keep the corporations/banks/Wall Street in line with strong regulations, capitalism does not work anymore. It has been run into the ground by the 1% at the top.  The people demonstrating in the streets know this, but you and the author of the article have blinded yourself to that reality.  In your mind, you and yours are not suffering, so everything must be OK. But everything is NOT OK.   Regulations are needed on the corporations -- but they now own the government (and the Republican Party completely). Grover Norquist, the bought-and-paid-for, top-of-the-heap lobbyist that he is, has convinced Republican politicians to NEVER raise taxes on the rich. Our so-called "leaders" have sold their souls to the devil, so there will be no corporate regulations.  Benefits like food stamps and unemployment checks will be reduced further and further, people will starve and the Tea Party will pretend not to notice. But WE, the PEOPLE are noticing!  We are being forced to notice!  Our fellow citizens (our "brothers" in Christian terms) are suffering; they are calling out for help -- and they are being ignored. All this is happening while the money changers in the temple carry on with their lucrative business--lucrative for themselves, but for no one else.  Given this situation, what do you think Jesus would do?  I think he would be chasing those money changers out of the temple once again -- and would be marching with the Occupy people in the streets, demanding tax raises on the rich and benefits for the poor.

But Jesus isn't here in physical form -- and many of those who profess to be Christians don't even realize they are not following his teaching.  We will all go down together, because the greedy bastards at the top have forgotten they are part of a web.  What happens to the rest of us will impact them, too.  The Titanic is sinking, and the people are shouting, "We need more lifeboats!" The 1% are cutting away the small lifeboats (benefits) for the people and letting them drift away, keeping big lifeboats for themselves. The elite are thinking they will survive.  But they won't. Their lifeboats have big holes, which they have not yet noticed.  The fates of all of us are tied together.  Because of ignorance, greed, and neglect, America's Ship of State is sinking.  Down we go.

The Readers' Comments to Reich's article represent the wisdom and insight of the 99%, who, unlike my Republican correspondent, can actually see what is going on.  Here is a comment by a man named Adam that succinctly describes the differences between the Tea Party and the Occupiers:

The factual content of this article is useful and Dr. Reich's overall conclusions salient. However, he makes the mistake--one I thought he had gotten past--of assimilating the Occupy movement to the Tea Party as somehow similar outbursts of "rage."
This is discredited drivel. The two have almost nothing in common. The Tea Party began as a confused outburst by mainly older, economically comfortable white conservatives who were feeling their security and privilege slipping away, and who were then mobilized and funded by right-wing corporate money. Virtually all their protest has been directed against the government, not against the banks.

The Occupy movement started with young, mostly white people angry about the way their futures have been wrecked by a crashed economy and debt they can't repay, but has broadened to include workers and unemployed of all ages and ethnicities and to represent a range of grievances not in any way confined to Wall St. Occupy is becoming a struggle against the entire economic, social, and political system and the shitty lives it compels more and more of us to live. Not only that, but it's part of a global anti-corporate uprising. Occupy is not some kind of cry of incoherent rage. It embodies in its daily practice the values that ought to govern our society: compassion, solidarity, generosity, deliberation, democracy. You should get out of your ivory tower and into the street a lot more often.