On Jun 2, 2007, at 3:57 PM, Carrol Cox wrote:
> I've never agreed with this division. Rentiers are a subsection of the
> capitalist class, not another class. They do own capital, and their
> use
> of it may always shift. Surely David Rockefeller and John D.
> Rockefeller
> III wre not in different classes.
Class, or subclass, is partly what you do. There's a difference between being actively engaged in production in some sense and purely living off income. Their interests aren't always the same. David Rockefeller worked all his life. He was the chairman of Chase. If that doesn't make you a capitalist I don't know what does. Paris Hilton mostly lives off the income from inherited wealth. She's turned her celebrity into cash through endorsements - and, as a friend of mine once put, when you're rich enough you never have to pay for anything. Paris is that kind of rich.
It's interesting that today's rentier girls do want to give the appearance of working. Tinsley Mortimer has a handbag line, of course.
Doug