America's anger

It seems like everyone's angry nowadays. Benjamin Pauker interviews Nouriel Roubini and Ian Bremmer, one of whom being better known as 'Doctor Doom' for having predicted the most recent financial crisis. Quite a nickname. Roubini's take on Occupy Wall Street:

In 2009, [President Barack] Obama told the bankers, "I'm the only one who's standing between you and the pitchforks." The bankers got the bailouts; they were supposed to extend credit, extend mortgages. They did pretty much nothing, and they went back to the same actions as before: making money through trading. At this point, I think people are fed up with it. Rightly or wrongly, there's a huge amount of anger.

I still struggle to compose any message of support for the protesters currently causing disruption on the streets of New York. Even from the other side of the world, their methods still irritate me a little; generally, I find protests to be somewhat futile unless they have specific goals, and as a result I simply see a group of people who might be more helpful in a position of employment.

But that's an ignorant view to take, you might say. True. Perhaps the reason I'm unable to understand the delicate nuances of the protesters' demands is because I don't share their grievances – regardless of how significant (or, yes, insignificant) they happen to be. I don't look at the middle classes of the United States and see an impoverished, oppressed people. You may be among the ninety-nine percent – and you do have the right to be angry – but it's worth remembering that in America that's not actually so bad after all.