“To be sure, the use of force by one party in a market transaction in order to improve his price was no invention of capitalism. Unequal exchange is an ancient practice. What was remarkable about capitalism as a historical system was the way in which this unequal exchange could be hidden; indeed, hidden so well that it is only after five hundred years of the operation of this mechanism that even the avowed opponents of the system have begun to unveil it systematically.” WayYearsWellsUseOrderForcePartyPracticeFiveHundredCapitalismHistoricalAncientInventionOperationsOpponentsRemarkableMechanismTransactionsUse Of Force Author:Immanuel Wallerstein
“It is, let me say, at the very least by no means self-evident that there is more liberty, equality, and fraternity in the world today than there was one thousand years ago. One might arguably suggest that the opposite is true. I seek to paint no idyll of the worlds before historical capitalism. They were worlds of little liberty, little equality, and little fraternity. The only question is whether historical capitalism represented progress in these regards, or regression.” WorldYearsMeanLittlesSelfMightTodayLibertyProgressThousandCapitalismYears AgoOppositesLet MeRegardHistoricalPaintThousand YearsEvidentWorld TodayFraternityRegression Book:Capistalist Civilisation Source: Capistalist Civilisation
“The basic question that the 'new science' raises for our balance sheet is the issue of what scientific questions have not been asked for 500 years, which scientific risks have not been pursued. It raises the question of who has decided what scientific risks were worth taking, and what have been the consequences in terms of the power structures of the world.” WorldYearsHas BeensTermIssuesRiskBalanceCapitalismConsequenceDecidedRaisesStructureSheetsPursuedBalance Sheets Author:Immanuel Wallerstein
“We seem to be in the midst of a process of cascading bifurcations that may last some 50 more years. We can be sure some new historical order will emerge. We cannot be sure what that order will be. Concretely, we may symbolize the first bifurcation as the effect of the world revolution of 1968 which continued up to and including the so-called collapse of the communisms in 1989, the social bifurcation.” WorldYearsFirstsMaySeemsLastsOrderSocialProcessEffectsRevolutionCapitalismHistoricalIncludingCommunismMidstCollapseBifurcation Author:Immanuel Wallerstein
“Are there still other possibilities? Of course there are. What is important to recognize is that all three historical options are really there, and the choice will depend on our collective world behavior over the next fifty years. Whichever option is chosen, it will not be the end of history, but in a real sense its beginning. The human social world is still very young in cosmological time. In 2050 or 2100, when we look back at capitalist civilization, what will we think?” ThinkingWorldYearsHumansLooksStillsImportantRealEndsYoungChoicesThreeCoursesNextSocialPossibilityDependsCivilizationBehaviorCapitalismHistoricalChosenFiftyCollectivesCapitalist Author:Immanuel Wallerstein
