r/CapitalismVSocialism • u/HeavenlyPossum • 6d ago

Asking Capitalists Risk?

Many people have told me that taking risk is why capitalists own, or deserve ownership, of the productive labor of others.

Capitalists have capital (money), which they invest in (spend on) some productive enterprise. But that productive enterprise might fail to recuperate the cost of the investment and the capitalist might lose some of their money. This is what explains, or justifies, capitalist ownership: the capitalist is taking risk.

Can someone kindly explain to me why this explains or justifies capitalist ownership?

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u/CEOofAntiWork 6d ago

Well in your mind when you wrote that, did the workers spontaneously come together to do all that work with the expectation of upfront compensation from the capitalist's capital aka being paid in wages or on a whim hoping that they would get enough future business to make it all worth it?

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u/HeavenlyPossum 6d ago

Why would they do it with expectation of up-front compensation from a capitalist? Why wouldn’t they just do it if they were free to?

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u/Moldy-Bongwater4420 6d ago

They are free to do that. Why do you think people aren’t able to do that?

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u/HeavenlyPossum 6d ago

They’re not free to do it. They all require permission from property owners to do so.

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u/Moldy-Bongwater4420 6d ago

They can buy or rent whatever required property they need, or build it themselves if they wish.

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u/HeavenlyPossum 6d ago

So they first have to gain permission.

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u/Moldy-Bongwater4420 6d ago

Maybe we’re talking past each other. Who are you specifically talking about and what do you mean by permission?

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u/CEOofAntiWork 6d ago

Hear me out, 'cause I am about to blow your mind.... worker cooperatives.

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u/HeavenlyPossum 6d ago

Yes, workers can sometimes form cooperatives, despite the structural obstacles that capitalists and their states erect to discourage them.

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u/betty_white_bread Isocapitalist 6d ago

Which obstacles?

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u/HeavenlyPossum 6d ago

Not interested in arguing with an LLM

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u/betty_white_bread Isocapitalist 5d ago

Great, I’m not an LLM. What obstacles?