Occupy Wall Street

The demonstrators should know what they are protesting and have solutions. The politicians do not. First differentiate investment banking, commercial banking, brokerage houses, insurance and the stock market. They may all be on Wall Street, but they have very different functions. Capitalism and our stock market along with venture capital historically served America very well and it is in our DNA. Don't mess with what works. That aspect of Wall Street is vital to our economy, so are commercial banks.
The problem grew when all of these separate entities were allowed to merge forming giant interrelated cartels and banking monopolies. Can you see a conflict of interest when the bank, the brokerage house and insurance company merge together -- and issue credit cards as well? The government subsidy, too big to fail, in the early banking crisis created further bank and bank-brokerhouse mergers. Banking is now an unsustainable monopoly.
Overlapping enterprises and mergers use to be illegal under our anti trust laws, but. these 1st depression safe guards were systematically eliminated. The same happened with the  elimination of bankruptcy protection for consumers which allowed them to keep their homes.
Solution: Break up the big banks. Eliminate branch banking. Separate insurance, investment banking, brokerage houses, commercial banks and credit card companies. Reinstate bankruptcy protection to home owners. Create financial incentive for big business and multinational business to operate here and bring their overseas operating profits home to America. Educate our workforce; it is essential. Eliminate the outrageous tuition costs for American students and retrainees. Education is a vital infrastructure. Discount outstanding student loans. Cap the trade-deficit imbalance by what ever means until we catch up.
If Washington connot fix these things fast, mob action from the street may create a dialectic wherein we start over. That is a dark alternative.