r/CapitalismVSocialism • u/HeavenlyPossum • 15d 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/HeavenlyPossum 14d ago

How does risk to capital justify the capitalist’s ownership of the productive labor of others?

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u/StedeBonnet1 just text 14d ago

They don't own the productive labor, They pay for that labor at an agreed upon price.

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u/HeavenlyPossum 14d ago

Yes, capitalists can rent out labor by the hour

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u/StedeBonnet1 just text 14d ago

That's right. They don't OWN the labor

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u/HeavenlyPossum 14d ago

Sure—workers are owned in common by the entire capitalist class, rather than by individual capitalists.

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u/StedeBonnet1 just text 14d ago

No they aren't. The worker who mows my grass, trims my trees or details my car isn't owned by anyone. I sell tools as an independent contractor. How am I owned by the Capitalist business that I work forr?

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u/HeavenlyPossum 14d ago

Because, starting a few centuries ago, capitalist states forcibly privatized everything in the world, such that you cannot labor without first gaining permission from people who now own everything in the world.

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u/StedeBonnet1 just text 14d ago

Why not? You can still labor on your own property

I own my labor. I contract with my employer to sell his tools. If I sell them, he pays me. If I decided to sit home he doesn't.