Some more undeserved hope for OWS

Give it up, this pony has two legs and was born with its head in its ass.

Read here, if you even care to bother:

On paper and in terms of demographics, Lee Munson doesn’t fit the stereotype of an Occupy Wall Street enthusiast. Not only is the opposite true but the author of Rigged Money: Beating Wall Street at its Own Game sees genius where others see chaos.

“Occupy Wall Street never had central leadership which is what was so brilliant about it,” says Munson. Or at least what was brilliant about the movement’s ability to grow so quickly and gain such widespread attention. If the group is able to evolve, it’s impact could be long-lasting.

“By 2013 they might turn into the greatest watchdog group that my generation has ever seen,” he states.

Since its first Manhattan protest on September 17th, OWS has established the fact that they are undeniably angry. And while many see the group as unfocused, Munson has a specific cause they should rail on. It’s not capitalism itself but rather a structural change over the last 30 years that has placed finance above all other aspects of the capitalist system.

“Finance rules capitalism and it needs to be the other way around,” says Munson. “If Occupy Wall Street can force that point I think we’ll have a better world.”

Now that he puts it that way, yes, we would have a better world. Finance is supposed to be the grease for the wheels of capitalism. Believe it or not, IPOs were once a mechanism for otherwise thriving companies to fund additional growth. The vast majority of modern IPOs seem to be driven by the desire to allow early stage investors to cash-out with brokers taking a cut by distributing the shares to institutional investors who promptly “flip” to the public for instant, riskless profit.