In _The World's Wasted Wealth 2_ by J.W. Smith, p. 337, the author gives an explanation of the concept of *superproprietors* as follows: QUOTE: ... The changes in the past two hundred years make it difficult to understand the eighteenth-century conception of liberty embodied in the Constitutiion. For the founders, private property was the best guarantee of the public good, because the richest members of society were the ones with the strongest interest in its prosperity. The richest merchants in New York would have the most public spirit when it came to improving the harbor. The largest planters would care the most about improving communications and agriculture. And the rich of all kinds would have the greatest interest in governing society in such a way as to avoid provoking rebellion by excessive laxity or severity in law and administration....The independent producer in a free market was the centerpiece of the Jeffersonian system in his incarnation as a farmer; in his mercantile form this producer was the center of Hamilton's system. This figure has been driven to the fringes of American life, but not by the rabble. Instead a new class of *superproprietors* has 338 THE WORLD'S WASTED WEALTH 2 grown up and eclipsed the farmer, merchant, and laborer altogether. 15 (emphasis added) With the marginalization of the farmer, merchant, and laborer, a money aristocracy has claimed superior rights. The elimination of the excessive rights the powerful have structured into the law would leave true free-enterprise capitalism which, in turn, would create a wealthier society. ... END QUOTE Footnote 15 is as follows: 15 Walter Russell Mead, _Mortal Splendor_ (Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1987), pp. 120-21. Admittedly this is not a Marxist reference, but I happened to be reading this material when your post arrived. _The World's Wasted Wealth 2_ (1994) by J.W. Smith can be obtained from: The Institute for Economic Democracy, Box 303, Cambria, CA 93428. The author's chapter 18 "Subtly Monopolizing Money, Money Capital, and Banks" goes into the details of *superexploitation*. I.e., it fills out the concept. Smith now has a web page at http://www.slonet.org/~jwsmith/ Curtis Moore, facilitator of the conference <econ.democracy> on PeaceNet. Original message: ---------------------------------- Date: Sun, 15 Sep 1996 12:58:00 -0700 (PDT) Reply-to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] From: Walter Daum <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: Multiple recipients of list <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: [PEN-L:6180] query: superexploitation Does anyone recall the original (or any) use of the term "superexploitation" in Marxist literature? Thanks, Walter Daum