Occupy Moves to the Right City

It’s fair to say that most Americans can agree that the financial system was hammered, in part, because of the banks.  The mantra of “they caused the problem, got bailed out, and are now working full tilt to curtail regulatory reform” might not be far off and Occupy Wall Street wants us to sit up and listen.  Today marked the 24^th day of protests in New York and other cities.  While the movement has succeeded in gaining followers and sustaining protest, they are failing to articulate exactly what they want the protests to achieve.

Right now it seems that nothing more specific than “We are the 99% and we want to be heard because we’re fed up” has come out of their efforts.

The problem is that the protestors are getting angry for the right reasons but not at the right institutions.

So long as the banks were acting within the rules sent to them by Washington, the real blame lies in Washington, not Wall Street.  Banks were maximizing their opportunity and profits within the regulatory scheme in which they operated.  They were acting as all rational corporations do.  Their actions might have been self-serving or even reckless but until they become illegal, the root of the problem remains in Washington.

This is where Occupy DC comes in and potentially sets the movement more in line with what it seems the Occupy Wall Streeters originally envisioned.  If Occupy DC is to achieve any of its staggeringly long list of to-dos it needs to go about it differently than the protesters in New York.  Instead of continuing to get mad without becoming articulate, the movement should get educated and then target the lawmakers who enabled the banks to stuff themselves on the taxpayer’s dime.  It’s easy to direct anger to big corporations that pay fat bonuses but the truth is a disciplined approach would go after lawmakers who need to be re-elected.  Maybe protestors don’t think that they can scare lawmakers into listening but given the no-holds-barred tactics and successes of the Tea Party, Occupy would be wise to take an aggressive stance with the left.

If the movement is able to keep its energy, narrow its focus, and find appropriate targets, lawmakers on both sides will be forced to respond.  Hopefully that interaction will produce some of the changes Occupy correctly shortlists as current policy failures.