Collapse of the civic order, where and when in history that unfortunate event is seen to have occurred, invariably is augured in the disposition of the masses. When they are moved, by just indignation or malign instinct, to assault those institutions of governance as are most preserving of civility and the rule of law, anarchy and desolation loom perilously close at hand. Against that dire historical backdrop, we contemplate the present occupation of Wall Street, now entering its tenth week.
Perpetrating this assault upon the seat of our Republic’s mercantile agency is a band of irregulars calling itself “the ninety-nine percent.” The name, we suspect, is something of an exaggeration; yet it betrays their exclusivist agenda. By their own admission, they speak only in the interest of a fraction of the people, and with such despiteful vitriol aimed at those not of their fold as to disgrace the nation’s flag they claim to march upon. The persecution of any minority is inconsonant with the American cause and decency itself.
We do not, however, deny that behind this rough action lies a grim reality: that people seem to be losing their faith in corporations. And, in their way, perhaps corporations are losing their faith in people as well.
