>Carrol Cox wrote:
>>There are three
>>classes in the U.S.
>>
>>Capitalists
>>Workers
>>Petty Producers
>
>Feeling rather ex cathedra today, are you?
>
>So where in your schema do you fit self-employed professionals (e.g., doctors in private practice, who are now plagued by HMOs, but who still don't want to be socialized) or middle managers (who both boss and are bossed, and can vacillate between identifying as worker or exec)? Some people *are* in the middle in the power sense (and not merely the income sense).
This is muddled thinking, you are equating economic class with the trade or skills of an individual. It is impossible to determine whether a medical doctor, or a manager, is from the capitalist or working class without some additional information. It is not whether they have a certain trade or qualification, but whether they own capital, that makes the difference.
Likewise, being "boss or bossed" is completely irrelevant. The capitalist may choose to get a job, as quite a few do, where they are subject to direction. They are still capitalists. On the other hand a poor unskilled worker may get a job as a prison guard. Doesn't make him or her a capitalist.
But Carrol could have spared you confusion by supplying definitions for the three classes suggested. This would not be difficult if he has more than a vague idea of what these terms are meant to indicate. I would certainly be keen to dissect any definition of "petty producer" which Carrol might concoct.
Bill Bartlett Bracknell Tas