Jim Devine wrote:
>
>
> "to be a capitalist, one requires at a minimum enough income-producing
> property to allow leisure for the rest of one's life, long before
> retirement, while actually adding to one's wealth.
A minor correction. Instead of "for the rest of one's life" I would
suggest "for the rest of one's own and immediate heirs lives." This
corresponds to traditional injunction not to spend one's capital but
switches the emphasis from the individual's 'morality' (refraining from
consumption) to the operations of the capital as an (apparently)
independent force. It also accounts for the importance to the very rich
of the battle over estate taxes: such taxes "raise the bar" because not
only must one not dip into capital but one _must_ (to be a capitalist)
expand that capital to remain above the minimum necessary _after 'death'
taxes_.
Carrol
