Pointless Protest, Again
Occupy Wall Street commemorated the first anniversary of its birth in the manner one would expect: There were a couple of pointless rallies, the usual slurs directed at anybody with more than a few dollars in his or her wallet, and in the end, about 150 demonstrators achieved the dream of every comfortable radical—they were carted off by police.
Another victory for people! Take that, Wall Street!
If only the Occupiers could tell us what, precisely, they wish to change (other than their clothes).
There’s no question that some of the young people milling around Wall Street have legitimate grievances. Job creation remains stagnant; lots of bright young people—and no small number of middle-aged workers—are out of work or underemployed. The national unemployment rate seems stuck at just over 8 percent. That’s bad enough, but things actually are worse here in New York, where the rate is 10 percent.
So it shouldn’t come as a surprise that some people are taking their anger to the streets. The problem is that the Occupy movement is steered by folks who are using legitimate grievances as an excuse to demonize the successful, provoke the police and otherwise display their contempt for free enterprise and American capitalism.
That much is obvious in the rhetoric of the Occupy leaders. Read More
