Mick Hartley

Seumas Milne is excited. It's like the Arab Spring…only here, in the West! The Occupy movement has lit a fire for real change:

Of course the London protesters, camped out in a tent city near the Stock Exchange, have also been abused as "muddle-headed" layabouts and "Toytown Trots". But despite their rejection of the current economic system as "unsustainable", their initial statement includes a call for "regulators to be genuinely independent of the industries they regulate" that wouldn't look out of place at a Liberal Democrat conference.

There's no doubt, though, that these occupations echo both the spirit and organisation of the anti-corporate movement that erupted in Seattle in 1999. The tactic of occupying a symbolic public space (as opposed to strikes, sit-ins and marches) can be traced back to Greenham Common in the 1980s through a string of often dubious "colour revolutions" over the past decade.

But it's this year's drama in Tahrir Square (acknowledged with an Egyptian flag at the London camp) that has given it such evocative power. And while the 1990s anti-capitalist globalisation protests took place at a time of boom and speculative frenzy, today's occupations are targeting a global capitalism in the deepest crisis.

We can guess with what contempt Milne views those calling for better regulation. This is an unparalleled chance to change the whole system, "and now that opportunity needs to be seized". Oh yes. 

He's certainly struck a chord with the Guardian faithful. Here's what is, currently, the most recommended comment:

The hipocrisy [sic] of our Western democratic governments, institutions and media…

3000 people turn out to demonstrate in LIbya – it becomes known as the Arab Spring;

3000 turn out demonstrate in London, and they're ridiculed by the establishment and the media…

The Libyan people got the support of OUR military and all its hardware…when British people use their democratic rights to protest, they're treated like scum…

Our apparent democracy is a complete sham…

To the barricades, comrades!