An illuminating account of the birth and rise of the
global political and
economic system that, sustained first by Britain and now by America, created the
modern world.
Building on this critique, Speth goes on to conclude in his book that: (1) «today's
system of political economy, referred to here as
modern capitalism, is destructive of the environment, and not in a minor way but in a way that profoundly threatens the planet» (2) «the affluent societies have reached or soon will reach the point where, as Keynes put it, the
economic problem has been solved... there is enough to go around» (3) «in the more affluent societies,
modern capitalism is no longer enhancing human well - being» (4) «the international social movement for change — which refers to itself as «the irresistible rise of
global anti-capitalism» — is stronger than many imagine and will grow stronger; there is a coalescing of forces: peace, social justice, community, ecology, feminism — a movement of movements» (5) «people and groups are busily planting the seeds of change through a host of alternative arrangements, and still other attractive directions for upgrading to a new operating
system have been identified» (6) «the end of the Cold War... opens the door... for the questioning of today's capitalism.»