Rent survived capitalism’s golden age embedded within its genome.

Evidence

Capitalism prevailed when profit overwhelmed rent, a historic triumph coinciding with the transformation of productive work and property rights into commodities to be sold via labour and share markets respectively. It was not just an economic victory. Whereas rent reeked of vulgar exploitation, profit claimed moral superiority as a just reward to brave entrepreneurs risking everything to navigate the treacherous currents of stormy markets. Nevertheless, despite profit’s triumph, rent survived capitalism’s golden age in the same way that remnants of the DNA of our ancient ancestors, including long-extinct serpents and microbes, survive in human DNA. — Yanis Varoufakis, Technofeudalism, 469

Categorization

• XREF: The DNA-of-rent-surviving-in-capitalism metaphor frames the shift that the reader’s stated interest in digital feudalism maps onto. — connects to: Rent has replaced profit as the driving force of the economy. — Yanis Varoufakis, Technofeudalism: What Killed Capitalism, 504; Rent beat profit for a century after capitalism’s named birth. — Yanis Varoufakis, Technofeudalism: What Killed Capitalism, 455; Ground rent drove feudalism just as profit drives capitalism — Yanis Varoufakis, Technofeudalism: What Killed Capitalism, 1026 (+1 more)
• corroborated: 2 independent passages support this claim — Yanis Varoufakis, Technofeudalism: What Killed Capitalism, 469

Broader Connections

• Ground rent predates capitalism and is payment beyond what motivates land leasing #corroborates (0.85) — Yanis Varoufakis, Technofeudalism, 802
• Ground rent drove feudalism just as profit drives capitalism #expands (0.82) — Yanis Varoufakis, Technofeudalism, 1026