Immanuel Wallerstein on Capitalism
One definition of a capitalist system comes from Yale University scholar Immanuel Wallerstein. In his book World-Systems Analysis, he cuts to the chase: "We are in a capitalist system only when the system gives priority to the endless accumulation of capital...Endless accumulation is a quite simple concept: it means that people and firms are accumulating capital in order to accumulate still more capital, a process that is continual and endless."
Jerry Mander, "Beyond Capitalism", Resurgence and Ecologist, Nov/Dec 2012, p.45 (No link available) [verified 4/17/14]