Problem with OED's First Use of "Capitalism"

[Dan Goncharoff]

Capitalism the concept, or "capitalism" the word?
DanG


On Sat, Mar 24, 2012 at 5:55 PM, Victor Steinbok <aardvark66 at gmail.com>wrote:

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> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Victor Steinbok <aardvark66 at GMAIL.COM>
> Subject:      Re: Problem with OED's First Use of "Capitalism"
>
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> Sure--but not in association with capitalism.
>
>     VS-)
>
> On 3/24/2012 5:48 PM, Dan Goncharoff wrote:
> > None of them have any relevance for early usage? I don't understand
> > what you mean. Adam Smith would have understood all the concepts you
> > mentioned.
> >
> > Sent from my iPhone
> >
> > On Mar 24, 2012, at 2:20 PM, Victor Steinbok<aardvark66 at GMAIL.COM>
>  wrote:
> >
> >> What I see here is "capitalist" as "banker" or "money lender", not
> >> merely "investor", as is given in the OED definition. "Capitalists"
> >> appear to be people who lend out "capital" and live off the returned
> >> interest. "Investment" is particularized use of such capital to make
> >> loans to businesses, usually in exchange for partial ownership of the
> >> enterprise--too narrow for use here. The meaning of "capitalism" as
> >> listed in the OED seems to be oddly unrelated to this particular use.
> >>
> >>> The possession of capital or wealth; an economic system in which
> >>> private capital or wealth is used in the production or distribution of
> >>> goods and prices are determined mainly in a free market; the dominance
> >>> of private owners of capital and of production for profit.
> >> Note that the "economic system", "use in production", "free market" and
> >> "dominance of private owners" are all Marxian or anti-Marxian ideas.
> >> None of them have any relevance for early usage.
> >>
> >>      VS-)
> >>
> >>
>
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