Ron Weltzin's Oct. 21 letter gets at the key misconception about the Wall Street protesters. Weltzin asserts that "Haves" worked diligently to succeed and that they did it by educating themselves and making the right decisions. There are haves who have dealt honestly and made good decisions. But why, despite the mounds of evidence, Weltzin assumes that ALL the wealthy have made the right decisions is dumbfounding.
The economy tanked because wealthy CEOs made extremely dumb, shortsighted decisions that cost real people their savings, jobs, and homes. Criminal decisions were made such as loan fraud, knowingly selling junk loans as AAA secure, and then betting against them to make even more money.
These people knew that eventually the system would crumble, but like good addicts they went on right to the end. Do we really wish to enable them by not imposing consequences, not restoring regulations, and agreeing to bail them out again? Are we going to blame and go after the poor and middle class instead?
Perhaps Weltzin believes it really is a dog-eat-dog world, and what he means by "right decisions" has nothing to do with honesty or integrity. Maybe he is OK with the few outsmarting and ripping off the many. His perception of the protesters is off. Most did work hard, most are well-educated, and most played the game fairly. All they are asking is that those on Wall Street do the same.
James Arneson
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Rochester
