I think that the subjective element is an important consideration in class. I think of the way populist movements can swing from left to right, depending on subjectivity.
On Sun, May 15, 2005 at 06:07:08PM -0500, Carrol Cox wrote: > Michael Perelman wrote: > > > > I doubt that one million dollars makes anybody feel rich. Once you have > > that much > > money, $10 million might seem to be required to be rich. And once you have > > $10 > > million, you might feel the need for hundred million dollars. > > Whether someone "feels rich" or not seems hardly to the point. From > Jim's post, we see that such a person can live with no further income > than return on his/her capital. That person is a capitalist. From Doug's > post we see that that net worth puts one into the top two percent. That > has been a pretty stable figure over all history, as well as can be > determined, of the ruling class. I suppose most peopel with 'only' a > million would try to make it grow, probably by taking a job if a > sufficiently respectable and well-paying one existed for them. Probably > the figure should be a household net worth of oen million _per person_, > but it's not worth quibbling on this and other points. We have a core > figure for the capitalist class in the United States, and one that > ignores (as it should) life style, income, education, values, etc. > > Carrol -- Michael Perelman Economics Department California State University Chico, CA 95929 Tel. 530-898-5321 E-Mail michael at ecst.csuchico.edu
