> CB: I'm guessing that what separates the bourgeoisie from the petit
> bourgeoisie is not losing money on the way down.
Carrol: No. They often lose huge amounts of money, and there is nothing intrinsic to capitalism to favor individual capitalists. On the contrary.
^^^^^^^ CB; This seems almost tautologically false. Capitalism intrinsically favors _most_ individual capitalists, favors the capitalists as a class, which means most individual capitalists.
The ruling class doesn't have a big turnover in personnel , surely.
^^^^^^ Carrol: But "big capitalists" differ from the rest of us in that they can _afford_ to lose huge amounts of wealth and still remain at the top.
^^^^^ CB: Well , there's relativity. What's huge to most is relatively not huge to the richest. Lose huge amounts to whom ? These loses always disappear down some black hole. Lose huge amounts to whom ?
^^^^^
The Hunt brothers' debacle of a few decades ago illustrate the possibility of even the richest going down the tube.
^^^^^ CB: Surely that's atypical. There isn't rapid turnover of personnel in the ruling class.