the Frank challenge

with reference to the posting of 25 Jan 2000 by Professor Frank, entitled
"Gunder Frank's Response to Gang of 3 Reviews of ReOrient"

the last paragraph, entitled "The Bottom Line" contains the statement: "None
of the three is willing to contemplate or even examine the evidence that the
theoretical concept -- indeed terminology -- of "capitalism" may be an
ideological construct that is out of synch with world historical reality."

This kind of iconoclasm appeals to my taste buds and I have two questions
arising:
(1) does this mean that the category of "capitalism" has the epistemological
status of an "ideal type" a la Weber?
(2) if the category of "capitalism" is out of synch with reality, as Frank
says, how can the left define (positively) what it is for and (negatively)
what it is against? If Frank is right, then it would seem that "the left"
would have a major task at its hands with respect to redefining itself --
not only "reorient" the world-system, but also "reorient" itself (the left),
given the fact that "capitalism" is traditionally a major component of the
self-definition of the left (in an antithetical way).

Gert Kohler
Oakville, Canada