The sing reads: “If they enforced bank regulation like they do park rules, we wouldn’t be in this mess in the first place! #OWS”

At first glance I agree.  But I would put it this way, if they had not used the legal system to deregulate the financial services industry, the mess we are in would not be this bad.

I recognize and honor that this is the entry point into this struggle for justice for a lot of people.  But there are lots of things wrong with our current system, and deregulation is just one.  It is not the only reason we are in this mess, nor is it the only issue we have to work collectively on solving.  It seems to me that there is a key piece missing from the Occupy discourse right now, and that is analysis of the matrix of power and how the systems we currently have create a web of interconnected issues.  Its great that we are starting to talk about about class.  But we also need to be talking about race, gender, sexuality etc.  These are NOT divisive or tangential issues.  And they are not secondary or non-issues.  They way systems of power operate to oppress us, and how oppression differs based on who we are, is central to any serious conversation and effort to make a more just world.