what is progressive, anyway? capitalism freed people from the chains of serfdom and (eventually) from those of slavery, but at the same time made people's life situations much more insecure. Can the cost be weighed against the benefits to produce a net benefit or cost, when it's matter of comparing apples and oranges? no.
> Much of the evidence that various scholars (e.g., Jim Blaut) have
> produced of growth in productivity outside Europe does _not_ at all
> demonstrate the non-European origins of capitalism; rather, it shows
> that growth of productive capacity was possible (even likely) WITHOUT
> the detour through the bloodbath known as capitalism.
how did (would?) this happen? what case are you talking about? the only cases I can think of involved going through a different bloody detour, i.e., through Stalin-type or Mao-type collectivism, but then both of those ended up with capitalism... -- Jim Devine / "From the east side of Chicago / To the down side of L.A. / There's no place that he goes / We don't bow down to him and pray / Yeah we follow him to the slaughter / We go through the fire and ash / Cause he's the doll inside our dollars / Our Lord and Savior Jesus Cash / [chorus:] Ah we blow him up inflated / and we let him down depressed / We play with him forever / He's our doll / and we love him best" -- Terry Allen