Cynically, the difference is that they don’t own much and other people do. If you’re a 19th century new-money factory owner [] looking enviously at all those ol

Cynically, the difference is that they don’t own much and other people do. If you’re a 19th century new-money factory owner [] looking enviously at all those old-money landed aristocrats it’s easy to see why you’d be able to persuade yourself that actually it’s assets you don’t* own rather than assets you do that should be taxed. (Or a ruined old-money aristocrat turned novelist. Or a 21st century San Francisco tech bro who has just realised that he’ll never be able to afford a house.)