Dollars and Percents

The bottom tier is not going away.Photo: Scott Lynch, Scoboco's flickr set

Despite the usual media neglect or mockery, here's the latest update from digby. Reliable as ever, she has been covering the neglect and mockery throughout the protest, noting—

I can't help but recollect the slightly different coverage of our most recent protest movement when it first burst forth on "tax day" in 2009. Of course, it was corporate sponsored, so I guess that makes it much more serious.

Digby's ongoing coverage of the protests has included this, on photojournalist Alan Chin's images, and his observation that—

Many pundits have thus noted that the lack of greater protest is an interesting, if not surprising, aspect of our current moment. They would be well served by visiting the encampment in Lower Manhattan. The park is kept spotlessly clean, the disparate demonstrators field skeptical inquiries from hecklers and passerby with humor and patience, and their low numbers are steadily supplemented by people that join them for an hour or two at a time.

Since the impressive job done by Occupy Wall Street's organizers, unions are beginning to join the protestors; as it happens, soon after this was reported.

Also in the past week or so, this—from an interview with "the last honest man on Wall Street"—

"For most traders...we don't really care that much about how they're going to fix the economy, how they're going to fix the whole situation," Rastani said. "Our job is to make money from it."

Finding optimism in a grim situation, Rastani said he's been "dreaming" of this moment for years.

"I go to bed every night, I dream of another recession," he said.

Then, there are the other 99% of the country.

The faces and stories are full of heartbreakers: the disabled scrimping on medication and food to send the kids to college; returning vets, in debt and out of work. With so many here in their 20s, there's a lot of focus on heavy school loan debt and dismal job prospects.

As things stand now, so many face futures that can be predicted to be grim; what's unpredictable are the details of the potential "rewards" that lie ahead.