The question 'what can come after capitalism' is still an open question, because after the present crisis – it is certain – nothing can be the same as it used to be. Trends are open. It is possible that status quo could be restored in the short run but it is likely that conditions prevailing before the crisis or similar ones will reappear only transitorily.

According to the Chinese Marxist expert, who used to believe in free market, the capitalist system is under pressure of permanent accumulation thus it is not compatible with the sustainability of the ecologic system of the globe. Climate stabilising measures would increase the costs of capitalists, would reduce the growth of capital accumulation thus very few countries are willing to undertake serious emission cuts and there is no hegemonic power that would keep the system in check. Substantial social changes are needed.

Modernisation, in theory, is possible if after the takeoff period both society and economy will be able to sustain their internalised growth and to adopt changes answering internal and external challenges. The fact that Hungary could not embark on this path, even after 150 years of attempts, can be explained by world system analysis. Development and backwardness are two sides of the same coin: Hungary was – and remains – on the semi-periphery of the capitalist world economy. It is our luck that falling further down is not so easy either.

In works studying the history of the system-change and its consequences there is an explicit or implicit war between different interpretational schools – "discourses" or "narratives" – on the use of different concepts and on defining the causes and outcomes. Politics and the mainstream professional literature, including diligent contributions of former Marxists, systematically crowded out the class based approach and Marxian social form analysis. This study shows that the essence of the system-change – under the flag of "democracy and freedom" – everywhere was to change ownership, to create a new capitalist class and to establish and extend the power of the supranational class.

Due to conflicting trends in Hungary, following them and especially forecasting them is extremely difficult. Free cultural development that matches to the global era (still) exists, while the anti-liberal, quasi-nationalist past-admiring cultural policy of authorities gains ground.