The Occupy Wall Street movement in New York and the tented encampment by St. Paul's Cathedral in the City of London are symptoms of the frustration and anger felt by many disadvantaged people against those whom they see as living a life of luxury while many are out of work and finding it difficult to keep their families fed and housed.
The protesters have not really thought through their grievances. Even fewer have found a coherent strategy or a set of policies designed to cure the problems that they see in the economy. They are anti-capitalist but probably and hopefully recognize that communism, as it was applied in the Soviet Union and its satellites, is not the answer.
So far, the protests have not led to widespread violence and the tipping point has not been reached. But it would be unwise to dismiss these protesters as a bunch of misguided leftwing intellectuals whose grievances can be safely ignored.
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