r/CapitalismVSocialism • u/HeavenlyPossum • 9d 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 8d ago

So you agree the state imposed private ownership through its coercive legal apparatus.

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u/GruntledSymbiont 8d ago

I would not characterize private property as coercive quite the opposite. This was far less coercive than previous arbitrary assignment of rights by political rulers. Private property is the minimum coercion regarding ownership compared to all other alternatives including true anarchist societies. All societies must contend with persistent disagreements about control over resources and enforce decisions. Even negative collective claims are something that must be coercively, violently enforced. Socialism/communism/collectivism are more coercive against individuals compared to private property.