ABSTRACT
It is only natural for people to take for granted the economic and social institutions within which they carry out their daily activities. In industrialized countries we think of educational institutions, the job market, career opportunities and so forth as creating a set of choices or possibilities that we navigate to achieve our chosen ends. We are, of course, aware of marginal changes in institutions, but to envision an entirely different set of institutions is almost akin to envisioning an alternative universe. In the usual course of events, then, we do not think of capitalism as a distinctive means of organizing human existence, even though capitalism has a history, a future, and immense consequences for the human condition. My intention here is to explore a set of issues related to capitalism-its nature, forms, history, contradictions, and future. I do so not with the hope of providing definitive answers, but with the hope of spurring thought that will enhance our ability to understand the forces shaping our behavior, to control our economic and social environment, and to consider countermeasures for some of the serious threats that capitalism poses to human existence.
