Maybe it's time for a wake-up call.

I am encouraged by a worldwide protest. Against bankers. And against monetarily rich people, in general. And the protests have been peaceful. Except in Rome. So overall, the demonstrations are well-controlled. Which is the way they should be. At least at the start. It's best to win friends and influence people without violence. That's the last resort. When nothing else succeeds. The plea should be for common sense. Fact of the matter is that rich people could lose half of their fortunes and still be very, very rich. And in the process, the poor and the middle class would be far less poor and destitute. That would be the right thing to do. To narrow the gap between the rich and the poor by redistributing the wealth. There's plenty of wealth to go around. If only it could be more equally distributed. Yes, a little bit of socialization is what we need. Rather than unfettered capitalism. The rich have become greedy. They want bigger and bigger shares of the national and international wealth. Seems to me that ain't very moral. Not really what god intended -- that is, if there's a god. But even if there isn't, we humans can easily come around to the notion that we need social and economic progress in this world. By lifting the standard of living for everyone. Rather than for just the few. We need to put curbs on rampant greed. And that's exactly what we have on Wall Street. I have nothing against profits. Reasonable profits. But let's draw the line on obscene profits. Let's start thinking about the common good. Rather than the good of a few elite individuals. If that means changing human nature and the essence of mankind, so be it. Seems to me that's why we have religions. To get at the better nature of mankind. But somewhere along the line, we seem to lose track of it all. And become selfish and greedy. Maybe it's time for a wake-up call. --Jim Broede