The Occupy Wall Street action in New York has taken root now and expanded into cities throughout the country, expressing itself in sit-ins, marches, blogs, and media coverage. Men and women, young and old, black and white--what unites these many and varied regions, and cohorts, is a single emotion: rage.
Likewise, the national orgy of mourning over the death of Steve Jobs--expressed through makeshift shrines in front of Apple stores from Michigan Avenue to Soho--was united by a different but related solitary emotion: despair.
Rage and despair--these seem to be the two dominant feelings coursing through the veins of today's America. People are pissed and despondent. The "system" that seemed to work pretty well for our parents and grandparents ain't working so well for us. The promise of the American Dream--embodied by a visionary and billionaire like Jobs--has withered and atrophied.
Deep down, are we angry at financial institutions or, rather, the nature of our daily lives? Are people really mourning Jobs or, instead, the death of a dream?
Time will let us know. For now, I'll continue to dream. And I'll pray that I'm not just sleeping.
