Pete Dolack (Author of It's Not Over)

Pete Dolack rated a book it was amazing Slavery in the British Empire and its Legacy in the Modern World by Stephen Cushion	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Ever since Eric Williams published his book Capitalism and Slavery, which demonstrated to those more inclined to weigh evidence rather than ideology that slavery was a crucial prop to the Industrial Revolution, there has been a continual pushback. No ...more
May 12, 2026 10:44AM · like · see review · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of Slavery in the British Empire and its Legacy in the Modern World by Stephen Cushion. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — Slavery in the British Empire and its Legacy in the Modern World by Stephen Cushion <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Pete Dolack rated a book really liked it Studies in the Development of Capitalism by Maurice Dobb	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
This book is regarded as a classic, and justifiably so. It is a thorough summation of the gradual foundation and development of the capitalist system. Professor Dobb presents that formation, a most important topic if we are to grasp the dynamics of o ...more
Apr 22, 2026 03:16PM · 2 likes · like · see review
Pete Dolack joined the group Brooklyn Bookworms!
Jan 31, 2026 02:14PM · like
Pete Dolack rated a book it was amazing Woman, Life, Freedom by Marjane Satrapi	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
We call them "human rights" because they apply to all humans. Iranian women as well. This shouldn't be controversial, should it? Apparently it is for conspiracy theorists who believe the uprisings in Iran following the police murder of Mahsa Amini we ...more
Oct 13, 2025 11:38AM · like · see review
Pete Dolack and 327 other people liked Glenn Russell's review of Fiasco: A Haunting Science Fiction Novel of First Contact Where Dark Poetry Descends into a Nightmare of Misunderstanding: " “I don't think anything can behave as unintelligently as intelligence.” ― Stanisław Lem, Fiasco In many important respects Fiasco is Stanisalw Lem’s crowning achievement. Publsihed in 1986 toward the end of the Polish author's distinguished career span" Read more of this review »
Sep 25, 2025 04:22PM · see review · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of Fiasco by Stanisław Lem. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — Fiasco by Stanisław Lem <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Pete Dolack rated a book it was amazing Crude Capitalism: Oil, Corporate Power, and the Making of the World Market by Adam Hanieh	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Just as we can’t imagine Britain’s rise to dominance in the capitalist system without coal, it is impossible to imagine the rise of the United States as the 20th century successor of Britain without oil. Nor can fossil fuels be disassociated from cap ...more
Sep 02, 2025 12:55PM · like · see review · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of Crude Capitalism by Adam Hanieh. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — Crude Capitalism by Adam Hanieh <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Pete Dolack rated a book it was amazing Maintenant 19: A Journal of Contemporary Dada Writing and Art by Peter Carlaftes	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
This is an annual anthology of poetry, micro-essays, short conceptual literary efforts and artwork that is always full of interesting work. This year's is no exception. The artwork is particularly strong and is interspersed with the written works. Th ...more
Jul 19, 2025 02:30PM · like · see review
Pete Dolack rated a book it was amazing The Stalinist Legacy: Its Impact on Twentieth Century World Politics by Tariq Ali	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
This is a book that should be much better known. The world does not need any more hagiographies of the 20th century's post-capitalist experiments and especially needs no more demonologies. If we are going to come to an understanding of these countrie ...more
May 13, 2025 11:44AM · like · see review
Pete Dolack and 3 other people liked Christie Bane's review of The Rise and Fall of the Great Powers: "I did it; I DID IT! I forced myself to finish this torturously, agonizingly boring book. It took months, and so, so many hours that I could've spent reading something good, but I finished it. This may be the most boring book I have ever read in my li" Read more of this review »
Apr 28, 2025 06:44PM · see review · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of The Rise and Fall of the Great Powers by Paul M. Kennedy. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — The Rise and Fall of the Great Powers by Paul M. Kennedy <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Pete Dolack rated a book it was amazing The Making of Bourgeois Europe: Absolutism, Revolution, and the Rise of Capitalism in England, France and Germany by Colin Peter Mooers	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
The concept of bourgeois revolution remains controversial, but The Making of Bourgeois Europe helps to clarify it through its useful definition as the outcome of a revolution rather than defining it by the classes engaged or the goals of a revolution ...more
Apr 22, 2025 08:14PM · like · see review

Pete Dolack rated a book it was amazing

Slavery in the British Empire and its Legacy in the Modern World
by Stephen Cushion

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Ever since Eric Williams published his book Capitalism and Slavery, which demonstrated to those more inclined to weigh evidence rather than ideology that slavery was a crucial prop to the Industrial Revolution, there has been a continual pushback. No Ever since Eric Williams published his book Capitalism and Slavery, which demonstrated to those more inclined to weigh evidence rather than ideology that slavery was a crucial prop to the Industrial Revolution, there has been a continual pushback. Nonetheless, Williams’ thesis has stood the test of time. Slavery in the British Empire and its Legacy in the Modern World is a new entrant in the effort to establish historical reality.

The United Provinces, the first center of the growing international capitalist system, did not develop an industrial base, remaining dependent on trade, nor did any other power develop as did Britain. What made the difference for the British? Expansion of business, creations of new manufacturing techniques and the development and adaptation of machinery can’t be done without access to capital. The accumulation of money, to put it another way; money only becomes capital if it can be invested. With the huge profits accrued from slave trade and further profits from products created with slave labor — tropical products grown in the Caribbean, with sugar in the forefront — there were unprecedented accumulations of capital that could be used to invest in machinery. Developing industrial capacities, thereby greatly increasing the amount that could be produced, would have been pointless unless there were large and growing markets for the surfeit of production, and slavery contributed to that growth as well.

So embedded was the concept of slave labor and the “property rights” that maintained it for centuries, that the British government handed out massive payments to slavers when slavery was finally abolished in the empire. How much? At the time, 1834, a total of £20 million was given as compensation for the freeing of the enslaved. (No compensation for the enslaved themselves, and they had to serve an additional four years of “apprenticeship” that was slavery under a new name.) To put that £20 million in some perspective, the average unskilled British laborer made perhaps £20 to £30 in a year and a skilled laborer might have made £70 to £90 per year. And some of the big banks that profited off the slave trade profited again when the compensation was paid.

Colonial commerce, including the business of slavery, was “one of the driving forces of the capitalist economy from its earliest manifestation,” Slavery in the British Empire informs us. “Exports from Britain accounted for around half of all industrial production in the eighteenth century. Economic historian Joseph Inkori tells us that in 1770 the slave trade and the plantation economy furnished as much as 55 percent of gross fixed capital formation investment in Great Britain.” The increased rate of industrial growth was dependent on colonial purchasing power. The sugar industry, the center of economic activity in British Caribbean colonies, “was responsible for more than half the growth of English exports in the third quarter of the eighteenth century,” the time of the industrial takeoff. Much of the sugar produced in the Caribbean by enslaved labor was re-exported into Europe for additional big profits.

Dr. Cushion notes that initial investment needed to begin an industrial enterprise was relatively small, but large amounts of working capital or credit was needed to continue operations. In turn, considerable investment and government support was needed for the infrastructure that had to be built to enable the expansion of commerce, such as docks, canals, roads, harbors and warehouses. And because textiles were the most important commodity in the early decades of the Industrial Revolution, the copious amounts of cotton produced by enslaved labor in the U.S. South was necessary. British manufacturers could not have done without it.

Slavery in the British Empire is not a book that sugar-coats the past. For a reader already familiar with this history, it serves as a good supplemental source of information. For the reader not familiar with this history, and who wishes to learn, Slavery in the British Empire provides a brisk, highly readable discussion of the central role of slavery in the creation of the Industrial Revolution, and of capitalism more generally. Given the relentless propaganda effort to convince us that capitalism is benign, natural and beneficial, Dr. Cushion provides a welcome, and needed, anecdote.

(The full version of this review is at https://systemicdisorder.wordpress.co...) ...more

Pete Dolack rated a book really liked it

Studies in the Development of Capitalism
by Maurice Dobb

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1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

This book is regarded as a classic, and justifiably so. It is a thorough summation of the gradual foundation and development of the capitalist system. Professor Dobb presents that formation, a most important topic if we are to grasp the dynamics of o ...more

Pete Dolack joined the group Brooklyn Bookworms!

Pete Dolack rated a book it was amazing

Woman, Life, Freedom
by Marjane Satrapi

Rate this book

Clear rating

1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

We call them "human rights" because they apply to all humans. Iranian women as well. This shouldn't be controversial, should it? Apparently it is for conspiracy theorists who believe the uprisings in Iran following the police murder of Mahsa Amini we ...more

Pete Dolack and 327 other people liked Glenn Russell's review of Fiasco: A Haunting Science Fiction Novel of First Contact Where Dark Poetry Descends into a Nightmare of Misunderstanding:

"

“I don't think anything can behave as unintelligently as intelligence.”
― Stanisław Lem, Fiasco

In many important respects Fiasco is Stanisalw Lem’s crowning achievement. Publsihed in 1986 toward the end of the Polish author's distinguished career span" Read more of this review »

Pete Dolack rated a book it was amazing

Crude Capitalism: Oil, Corporate Power, and the Making of the World Market
by Adam Hanieh

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Just as we can’t imagine Britain’s rise to dominance in the capitalist system without coal, it is impossible to imagine the rise of the United States as the 20th century successor of Britain without oil. Nor can fossil fuels be disassociated from cap Just as we can’t imagine Britain’s rise to dominance in the capitalist system without coal, it is impossible to imagine the rise of the United States as the 20th century successor of Britain without oil. Nor can fossil fuels be disassociated from capitalism. Fossil fuels and capitalism are completely intertwined and that embrace, as tight as ever, threatens to be a deadly grip as global warming has only begun to wreak havoc.

Oil consumption has drastically increased since 1950 — nearly three-quarters of the total increase in atmospheric carbon dioxide has occurred since that year and half since 1980. This increasingly steep upward slope must be seen in the context of capitalism. The system’s “internal raison d’être is one of endless accumulation — a drive to continually accumulate money that overrides all other considerations,” Crude Capitalism tells us. “This social logic differs from all preceding human societies and has a profound impact on energy use and energy systems.” Without “foregrounding capitalism as a social system with its own distinct logics, we lack any explanatory reason for why and how oil emerged as the dominant fossil fuel of the twentieth century (and even more importantly, what must be done about it).”

Thus begins a highly interesting and informative discussion, taking the reader through a history of oil, and the control of some of the world’s largest corporations over it, the development of the oil industry as a harbinger of corporate consolidation across industries, the decisive role of oil companies in the development of 20th century economies and geopolitics (even bigger than we might have suspected) and the dynamics of the fossil fuel/capitalism nexus that has throttled all attempts at dealing with the existential crisis of global warming. Humanity surely is capable of meeting the challenge of changing the economy so Earth remains livable but seemingly can’t.

Full review at: https://systemicdisorder.wordpress.co.... ...more

Pete Dolack rated a book it was amazing

Maintenant 19: A Journal of Contemporary Dada Writing and Art
by Peter Carlaftes

Rate this book

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1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

This is an annual anthology of poetry, micro-essays, short conceptual literary efforts and artwork that is always full of interesting work. This year's is no exception. The artwork is particularly strong and is interspersed with the written works. Th ...more

Pete Dolack rated a book it was amazing

The Stalinist Legacy: Its Impact on Twentieth Century World Politics
by Tariq Ali

Rate this book

Clear rating

1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

This is a book that should be much better known. The world does not need any more hagiographies of the 20th century's post-capitalist experiments and especially needs no more demonologies. If we are going to come to an understanding of these countrie ...more

Pete Dolack and 3 other people liked Christie Bane's review of The Rise and Fall of the Great Powers:

The Rise and Fall of the Great Powers by Paul M. Kennedy

"I did it; I DID IT! I forced myself to finish this torturously, agonizingly boring book. It took months, and so, so many hours that I could've spent reading something good, but I finished it. This may be the most boring book I have ever read in my li" Read more of this review »

Pete Dolack rated a book it was amazing

The Making of Bourgeois Europe by Colin Peter Mooers

The Making of Bourgeois Europe: Absolutism, Revolution, and the Rise of Capitalism in England, France and Germany
by Colin Peter Mooers

Rate this book

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1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

The concept of bourgeois revolution remains controversial, but The Making of Bourgeois Europe helps to clarify it through its useful definition as the outcome of a revolution rather than defining it by the classes engaged or the goals of a revolution ...more

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	It's Not Over: Learning from the Socialist Experiment 4.11 avg rating — 18 ratings — published 2016 — 4 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	What Do We Need Bosses For? Toward Economic Democracy 3.50 avg rating — 2 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Winners and Losers of Fascism really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 1 rating — published 2003	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	A Cautionary Tale: Peer into the Lives of Seven New York Performing Poets by Theo Coates, Pete Dolack (Goodreads Author), Bob Hart 0.00 avg rating — 0 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

Pete Dolack’s Followers (24)

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