Gross inequity

When the Chicago Tribune asked Rahm Emanuel about the Chicago version of Occupy Wall Street, the mayor of Chicago said that although he did not agree with some of the tactics and proposals of the protesters, no one could ignore the fact that many Americans live on the edge of financial disaster. "If you can't hear the anguish in people's lives," he said, "you're too callous for public life."

This issue of the Century includes Gary Dorrien's essay "The case against Wall Street." Not everyone will agree with Dorrien's analysis or proposals. When I asked a New York banker about the situation, he pointed out that if the government had not bailed out the banks, the entire banking system might have collapsed. Automakers avoided total collapse and are back on their feet thanks to government financial support. Americans who might otherwise be unemployed have jobs and incomes thanks to millions of dollars of infrastructure support. My banker friend suggested that the real problem is money in politics and that the number one economic challenge is meaningful tax reform.

Setting our financial house in order is a moral as well as a political and economic matter. As Dorrien observes, the top 10 percent of the American people hold more than 70 percent of the wealth. Historians warn that the growing gap is not sustainable and is likely to result in catastrophe.