It just occurred to me that during an earlier round of culture warring in the United States — back when the great pundits of American public life had turned their attention to the grave threat posed by youth sports participation trophies — I took part in a radio interview where the subject came up. I had to admit, on air, that as far as I remembered I had never in my life received any award other than participation trophies. I still proudly held onto them, though, as the just fruits of my willingness to play by the rules and fail, again and again, graciously and honorably.

Now I’m humbled and grateful that, thanks to the generosity of the Broadbent Institute and the Rosa Luxemburg Stiftung, I finally have a proper prize — even though you probably still wouldn’t want me on your Little League baseball team.

I first read Ellen Meiksins Wood’s The Origin of Capitalism while procrastinating from my actual coursework during my very first month of college. I read the first edition of the book. The “Longer View” edition was a bridge too far for a lazy undergraduate. But just 138 pages of that book were enough to do what the very best Marxist scholarship does.