Thank you so much for your talk on this gem of a book. I am from England and have always had a sneeking suspicion that capitalism in its origin is an English home-grown rather than global phenomenon (although it rapidly became global for reasons you have discussed). There is so much about our individualistic, transactional mentality and our unquestioning acceptance of the absolute right to private property that is explained by Meiksin's thesis. The destruction of communal land traditions and practices due to the enclosures may have provided large quantities of cheap food, but it also tore up our social fabric and our environment, a process which is ongoing today. This model was then exported all over the world by our imperial ambitions. The United States is its main torch-bearer today of course.
So, this book is, at the end, underpins the organic development thesis of capitalism. Commercialization of land, not compelled by the state, but progressed own its own led to rise to industrial capitalism.
