Nikolai:
You points are all valid, in my opinion, if they refer to processes occurring
after the late 16th century -- after the huge accumulation of gold and silver,
and after the beginnings of the slave trade and slave plantations. In other
words, I believe that nothing that existed in Europe prior to 1492 suggests a
potential for a later "rise of Europe" above other civilizations. Colonialism
started the process and there was no "European miracle." I defend this position
in my book and in articles published in the journals _Science and Society_
(1989) and _Political Geography_ (1992).
Jim