Hamilton

[Brad DeLong]

>Doug Henwood wrote:
>>
>>  [bounced bec of an attachment - by the way, my pal Dan Lazare,
>>  Marxist critic of the U.S. constitutional system, is a Hamilton fan
>>  who hates Jefferson]
>>  >  [clip]
>>  Whatever happened to the strain of leftism that sees
>>  capitalism as an improvement on what existed before,
>>  and as a nessessary precursor to socialism?
>>
>
>There are two propositions here, which have no necessary connection:
>
>1. Capitalism was an improvement over pre-capitalist regimes
>
>2. Capitalism was/is a necessary precursor of socialism.
>
>I don't know any basis, except perhaps a religious belief in the
>Doctrine of Progress, for the first proposition.

Perhaps a belief that short life expectancy and high infant mortality 
are bad things?