more compelling

The Occupy Wall Street image that marks the end of the global consensus

In this photograph we see the end of that consensual age, which turns out to have lasted just 20 years, when the free market was essentially beyond criticism. The very use of the word “capitalism” seemed corny a decade ago. What was the point of applying such a term to a way of life that seemed to have no outside to it? Now it is once again a word to hurl as abuse, as it was in the era of RH Tawney, or for that matter Lenin. Capitalism is in trouble because of the very fact that people are once again widely calling it “capitalism” – with the implication that we can dissent from it.

Jonathan Jones at The Guardian calls it what it is. Although the article is missing some important analysis about the meaning of the word “occupy”, problems of representation and racist behaviour within the movement, I suppose you can’t always cover every aspect of this complex creature in 800 words. It’s high time that someone commented on the significance of bringing this debate back into the public sphere.