I tend to agree with the suggestion that this may be straying a
bit far from the topic of the list. It branched from the discussion of
measuring economic welfare effects experienced by different countries over
the recent past, and I saw a connection with World-System theory so I
threw my A$0.02 worth into the discussion. But whether social systems are
*not* natural systems, or whether humans are naturally social animals so
that social systems are a special type of natural systems (though one,
obviously, of special interest to social scientists 8-)# does not seem to
be a relevant distinction unless we start to connect World-Systems with
local and global ecosystems, for example. And whether or not human nature
is an immutable that has sufficiently specific social consequences to
serve as a stable base for social theory, I don't see how a discussion
that accepts that as a premise is a discussion about World-Systems theory.
That's why there are different mailing lists for people with interests in
pursuing different approaches to social science (for example).
Virtually,
Bruce R. McFarling, Newcastle, NSW
ecbm@cc.newcastle.edu.au