Some misguided analysts, objectively or not, are comparing the currently active “occupy Wall Street” crowd to the Tea Party activists. Well, if you have paid any attention at all to this rabble and their temperament and overall articulation of mission, that’s a pretty big stretch. Despite some fringe loonies, the Tea Party is a credible political force with valid policy notions . Previously, I compared the Tea Party to the mobs protesting government austerity in Greece, which is somewhat more of a valid comparison, although as I indicated, the former is absolutely in opposition to the core philosophy of the failed government welfare state policies that are the life blood of the latter. Throughout both the Greek mobs and those currently protesting whatever evils they feel are represented by Wall Street is the usual mix of anarchy and genuine radical revolutionary zeal. Sure, there are many otherwise rational people out there who are hurting, seeking scapegoats, and who sympathize with the anti-capitalist message in the street, but I sense that the current American mob scene is more about entitlement generally and the perceived threat of the loss of it that many of the participants feel. It is as though it has just dawned on them that the “hope and change” narrative of 2008 was just a pipe dream or maybe a con job and that they have been duped. Welcome to the real world.
