A sucinct and accurate summary. There is also the story of how independent European crafts workers became first dependent on capitalist merchants for marketing their goods and lose control over their means of production.
Your deep analysis, to the greatest possible extent, of socio-economic hierarchical oppression labeled as capitalism is greatly insightful.
However, I would encourage you to explore the Roman Empire, which exhibited early signs of the foundational principles of capitalism. You wrote, “Capitalism, as it first appeared just around five hundred years ago, is a system specifically centered on continuous capital accumulation and growth intended to extract surplus.” Yet on a historical scale, this may not be entirely accurate. The Roman Empire, for instance, had slaves and extracted resources from both humans and nature for its own aggrandizement.
Very true. The Roman Empire, much like capitalism today, was essentially a "plunder economy" as well. And such a thing never ends well in the long run.
Well-said. Let's not forget as well the role of the Burning Times (witch trials, or Women's Holocaust) in the formation of capitalism. Sylvia Federici wrote in great depth about that in her book, "Caliban and the Witch", and several short articles too. Long story short, many if not most of the "witches" killed were in fact revolutionary women who were getting in the way of the machinations of the budding capitalist class of the time. Many were women who owned property, and whose property was thus seized by capitalist men. Thus, the Burning Times went hand in glove with the enclosures of the commons, paving the way for capitalism and the devastation of the proletariat (a word which, interestingly enough, literally means "those who produce offspring").
A sucinct and accurate summary. There is also the story of how independent European crafts workers became first dependent on capitalist merchants for marketing their goods and lose control over their means of production.
Your deep analysis, to the greatest possible extent, of socio-economic hierarchical oppression labeled as capitalism is greatly insightful.
However, I would encourage you to explore the Roman Empire, which exhibited early signs of the foundational principles of capitalism. You wrote, “Capitalism, as it first appeared just around five hundred years ago, is a system specifically centered on continuous capital accumulation and growth intended to extract surplus.” Yet on a historical scale, this may not be entirely accurate. The Roman Empire, for instance, had slaves and extracted resources from both humans and nature for its own aggrandizement.
Very true. The Roman Empire, much like capitalism today, was essentially a "plunder economy" as well. And such a thing never ends well in the long run.
Well-said. Let's not forget as well the role of the Burning Times (witch trials, or Women's Holocaust) in the formation of capitalism. Sylvia Federici wrote in great depth about that in her book, "Caliban and the Witch", and several short articles too. Long story short, many if not most of the "witches" killed were in fact revolutionary women who were getting in the way of the machinations of the budding capitalist class of the time. Many were women who owned property, and whose property was thus seized by capitalist men. Thus, the Burning Times went hand in glove with the enclosures of the commons, paving the way for capitalism and the devastation of the proletariat (a word which, interestingly enough, literally means "those who produce offspring").