Full Idea
The handmill gives you society with the feudal lord; the steam mill society with the industrial capitalist.
Gist of Idea
The handmill gives feudalism, the steam mill capitalism
Source
Karl Marx (The Poverty of Philosophy [1847], p.202), quoted by Peter Singer - Marx 7
Book Reference
Singer,Peter: 'Marx' [OUP 1996], p.36
A Reaction
If technology dictates social structure, then feudalism is still with us, in low-tech industries. What if the steam mill had been invented in 1300?