>----- Original Message -----
>From: "Doug Henwood" <dhenwood at panix.com>
>
>
>Wojtek Sokolowski wrote:
>>I think this is fundamentally untrue. Of course, European plundered the
>>New
>>World, Africa and to lesser degree Asia, but I do not think that plunder
>>alone was the source of North's wealth.
>
>-Did I say "plunder alone"? I said "greased." I know this is all very
>-controversial, and I haven't read very deeply in this literature, but
>-I'm skeptical of both of the extreme positions - that it was either
>-all changes in domestic European society, or it was all plunder, that
>-caused Europe's rise to wealth.
>
>But whether you look at the US colonies or Britain, for example, it's
>impossible not to see the slave trade and the economic exploitation related
>to "the Indies" (East and West) as fundamental to fueling the early
>industrial revolution.
No disagreement from me. I'm just rejecting the extreme (i.e. Blaut/Proyect) position.
Doug