Smashing Capitalism

Barbara Ehrenreich celebrates an unusual working class revolution in The Nation, one where the masses advance social justice by making a mess of their credit report, then cry about it. An excerpt:

Somewhere in the Hamptons a high-roller is cursing his cleaning lady and shaking his fists at the lawn guys. The American poor, who are usually tactful enough to remain invisible to the multi-millionaire class, suddenly leaped onto the scene and started smashing the global financial system. Incredibly enough, this may be the first case in history in which the downtrodden manage to bring down an unfair economic system without going to the trouble of a revolution.

First they stopped paying their mortgages, a move in which they were joined by many financially stretched middle class folks, though the poor definitely led the way...

Then, in a diabolically clever move, the poor--a category which now roughly coincides with the working class--stopped shopping.

A few more smashing victories like this one, and the "low, strangled, cry of pain" of the poor will rise to howls of indignation at a system that makes them wait in line for basic necessities, offers loans only to those who don't need them or those who are politically well-connected, and gives consumers their choice of shoddy products or nothing at all.

At least it does all this with a nice color scheme, most likely red.