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Carrol:Rational choice individualism does _not_ take "selfishness" as a premise. That is an addition from petty-bourgeois moralism.
^^^^^^ CB: I'm not talking about the selfishness as a moral category but a bourgeois political economic category; and bourgeois political economy treats selfishness as a virtue , not a vice anyway. With the borgeois Invisible Hand , Adam Smith thinks selfishness is selfless.
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The Declaration of Independence makes the "Pursuit of Happiness" -- i.e. wealth -- a basic human right, following from the premise that all men [sic] are created equal.
^^^^^^ CB: Yes , but happiness for all can only be had with socialism, i.e. the abolition of bourgeois individualism and selfishness. Life , liberty , too.
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And incidentally, "oil capitalists" does not name anything, since the oil corporations are owned mostly by banks, asset management corporations, "food capitalists," pension funds, etc. There is no way to identify a distinct group of humans who can be labeled "oil capitalists."
^^^^^^^^^^ CB: "Oil capitalists" are, of course, a section of _monopoly_, finance capital. The fact that they are bankers, etc. doesn't stop them from being identified as the specific owners of oil company capital. See _Capital_ penultimate chapter on monopoly capital. See also _Imperialism_ by Lenin, on finance capitalism. Monopoly/Finance capital is the merger of industrial and banking capital, as in the case the oil monopolists today.
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Marx never got around (and Marx knew this) to an analysis of corporate wealth.
^^^^^ CB: This is not correct. Marx discusses the corporate, or limited liability form . I'll find it. The essence of a corporation is the corporate veil which limits the liability of the owners. Marx and Engels , somewhere, discuss the corporation and the diminishing role of owners in actual production management; stockholders who do not manage.
Carrol