Paul Krugman: Losing Their Immunity

[cal04]

Wall Street Loses Its Immunity
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/17/opinion/krugman-wall-street-loses-its-immunity.html?_r=1&smid=tw-NytimesKrugman&seid=auto

As the Occupy Wall Street movement continues to grow, the response from the movement’s targets has gradually changed: contemptuous dismissal has been replaced by whining. (A reader of my blog suggests that we start calling our ruling class the “kvetchocracy.”) The modern lords of finance look at the protesters and ask, Don’t they understand what we’ve done for the U.S. economy?

The answer is: yes, many of the protesters do understand what Wall Street and more generally the nation’s economic elite have done for us. And that’s why they’re protesting.

(snip)
You see, until a few weeks ago it seemed as if Wall Street had effectively bribed and bullied our political system into forgetting about that whole drawing lavish paychecks while destroying the world economy thing. Then, all of a sudden, some people insisted on bringing the subject up again.

And their outrage has found resonance with millions of Americans. No wonder Wall Street is whining.

[jwirr]

1. Another good OP.

[Electric Monk]

2. K&R

&U&G&M&A&N

[Kaleko]

3. Lovely man. He gets it. n/t

[girl gone mad]

5. He's been on a roll lately.

[SusanaMontana41]

16. He always has. LOVES me some Krugman! nt

[applegrove]

4. Spot on.

[Mimosa]

6. K&R! n/t

[myrna minx]

7. K&R n/t

[me b zola]

8. POW!

Right in the old kisser.

:thumbsup:

[Quantess]

9. Short & Sweet!

[bertman]

10. REC. HUGE REC. nt

[caseymoz]

11. How about an answer to Ayn Rand's "Atlas Shrugged."

Where, instead of going on strike, the world's wealthy are given a "lock out." Let's put them all on an island and wait for them to show prosperity.

[blackspade]

12. I like it.

Deport the 1% to some barren rock in the Antarctic.

[SusanaMontana41]

17. Me, too. nt

[RoccoR5955]

24. Please, let's not inject fiction

into real life situations. There are enough Libertardians to do that.

[Enthusiast]

26. They could pull themselves up by their bootstraps.

[underpants]

29. Would they form unions to collectively express themselves?

which, in the richest irony, is what Atlas Shrugged is about.

[caseymoz]

34. I would like proof, that if we drop a bunch of wealthy people on a desert island

and cut them off as the rich did in Atlas Shrugged, would it really prosper? I think that bears testing.

[woo me with science]

13. K&R

[Douglas Carpenter]

14. what Krugman writes about is nothing less than the most important political change in a generation

[oldhippydude]

23. actually

for a couple of generations.. haven't seen this much activity since the civil rights, vietnam war era

[leveymg]

15. I can't believe that some around here still attack Krugman to defend Obama.

Total mismatch. Barack is proving to be an economic simpleton, or simply a stooge of Wall Street.

[IthinkThereforeIAM]

18. K...

...kickarino!

[Puget Progressive]

19. I feel SO much sympathy for these poor

beset upon masters of finance who cry out that THEY are the victims of "class warfare" on the part of these "mobs". AAAWWWWW!
My only concern is that the coming winter will make the commitment of the protesters harder to endure. I'm sure the One Percenters are counting on record cold. Meanwhile, listen to the likes of Eric Cantor and, of course, El Rushbo, and how they claim that this is
a Marxist movement that would tear down all the swell stuff that the oligarchs have provided for us.

[David in Canada]

32. Actually...

Now that the 99% are fighting back, it is class warfare at long last, even if our financial overloads still have an overwhelming strategic advantage. Even so, it is a paradigm shift from only months ago. It is no longer a turkey shoot. They now have risk, a REAL risk, of actual losses. Their total domination of the narrative has been shattered. They still have the upper hand considering their near total control of the financial, legal and military complexes. However, it is up to us, the 99%, to turn the tide in our favour with sheer numbers, creativity and solidarity.

The rich truly hate class warfare. They prefer the status quo (or at least as it has existed hitherto) which is/was nothing less than class massacre that drowned out the hopes and dreams (not to mention the basic human rights) of workers in a bloodbath of pain, misery and premature death. All this in order for their avaricious pursuit of lucre to sail through the flotsam and debris of wrecked lives, families and communities without being impeded. How seasick they get when the waters get choppy, eh?

[canuckledragger]

20. K & R

[Hubert Flottz]

21. What makes the hell raising so hard for the 1% to take is...

They were so close to seeing all their wildest dreams, of dominating mankind, so close that they could taste it, before the axe started to fall on their Elite, Entitled, necks.

I hope the entire planet wakes up in time to throw off this yoke!

Edit...I hope the guilty pay out the ass.

[Better Believe It]

22. K & R

[Enthusiast]

25. Recommended, a bunch.

[Stuart G]

27. k & r thanks for posting...nt

[katty]

28. When Wall St gets even louder in their whining...we're winning

too big to ignore.

[David in Canada]

36. Not Yet...

Determining what side is 'winning' is conducted by who holds the upper hand at the given moment, or, at the very least, who holds a long and sustained momentum. The oligarchs still have the upper hand and the protests too new for any long term trends to be determined. As such, it is still too soon to say they are losing. It is safe to say that their 100% advantage has been rolled back a bit. However, they still have firm control over the terrain. At least the people now have a beachhead to fortify and then expand upon. That is a huge gain on our part from only two weeks ago!

The easiest way of determining how much ground they are losing is by the quantity and quality of new concessions being offered. As Frederick Douglass said over a century ago, "Power concedes nothing without demand. It never has and never will." This rule is evermore true for Wall Street, its oligarchs, cronies, hangers on and its street urchins moping around on the floors of various brokerage houses and trading floors. If the people accept what is offered, that will only embolden them to rescind those concessions down the road. In order for them to making lasting and permanent concessions, they must realise the people are serious and respect their will and fortitude -- if only very grudgingly.

The people must be clear that the more Wall Street continues its reactionary ways and continues its old tricks of divide and conquer and blaming the victim that the price they will have to pay will go up. Wall Street has proven they are incapable of showing any basic decency or humanity towards us, the 99%. The only thing they understand is hard-nosed negotiations to get every last cent they can. As such, it is time to talk to them in those terms and it looks like we, the people, are finally doing so.

It is time to dish out to them what they have forced down our throats for so long! Make them squirm and beg for a change!

[David in Canada]

30. Tell Them: "Suck It Up"

Considering how these banksters and their toadies just love to tell people to be silent, obey their financial overlords and, to use their favourite expression, "Suck It Up!", perhaps it is time to boomerang their own hackneyed phrase back at them. At least it is words they can comprehend, if only barely.

If getting financially raped by shrinking wages, crippling debt, dwindling investments and savings, substandard health coverage and a vanishing retirement is not considered worthy enough to complain about, a few supposedly "flea-ridden hippies" (as a certain Ms. Ann Coulter would put it) having the temerity to peacefully hang out within view of the oligarchs high-rise office buildings is nothing for them to complain about it either. After all, the oligarchs should agree no one owes them any more consideration than they show their employees and whatever other wage chattel they have accumulated over the last 30 years of raping and pillaging of the working and middle classes? Oh, they don't? Just tell them to "Get Over It!" and "Suck It Up!" They might not understand basic ethics, humanity or common decency but at least they will understand those simple bromides. After all, they love to repeat them ad nauseam all the time!

[glinda]

31. Sure. Whining is free and doesn't mean anything will change.

[GreenTea]

33. The GREAT Paul Krugman - Always on the money if you disagree with him, you're most likely wrong.

[Dover]

35. American Beauty

Whining and confused indeed. My thoughts exactly while reading an op-ed in the WSJ today
about the Democratic elite being very upset with Obama and OWS.
Ahnd as always the reality of this crisis settling around their knees is just not a feeling they are used to
nor do they understand the real root of it.

Mirror mirror on the wall, who's the fairest one of all...?
The mirror image has always answered back that of course they were the fairest. But suddenly the mirror is
telling them they aren't quite so fair afterall. That something else threatens their 'American beauty' and that
the definition of beauty itself is changing.

http://motherjones.com/media/2011/10/zina-saunders-charles-koch-mirror