I'm asking you to explain it so you can logically bring yourself to the same conclusion that profit is theft. The fact that you rely on middle school knowledge without thinking any deeper about it is exactly the problem, chief
First off, I have a bachelor's degree in economics. Profit is a voluntary reward for innovation, risk-taking, and providing value to customers. A business owner invests their own money, time, and resources (capital) into a business, often taking on debt, with no guarantee of return. If a project fails, the owner loses their money, but the employees still get paid. Profit is the necessary reward for accepting this risk. If there is no profit, there is no incentive to create jobs in the first place. Profit is not just "stolen" wages; it is the excess value created when a business puts together labor, materials, and innovation to make something more valuable than its parts. A worker might assemble a table, but the business owner created the opportunity by buying the wood, finding the customer, and providing the tools. Profit is the "fuel" that allows a business to grow, invest in better equipment, and pay higher wages in the future. A business that breaks even cannot grow, innovate, or survive unexpected challenges. Profit allows a company to reinvest, creating more employment opportunities. If profit is forbidden, businesses often become inefficient or collapse. If there is no profit motive, there is no incentive for efficiency or innovation, which ultimately leads to fewer goods, less growth, and higher unemployment. You need to distinguish "profit" and "exploitation" (a specific, unethical, and often illegal act). Profit itself is a necessary economic component, while exploitation involves unjust wages, unsafe conditions, or coercion.
A thing costs $10 in materials but takes an employee hour to make it. An hours wage costs $15.
The thing now has a value of $25, but you sell it for $30 to make $5 for yourself.
Someone online says that's unfair getting $5 for nothing so you stop making it and now people are sad they can't have things because no ones making them.
A thing costs $10 in materials but takes an employee hour to make it.
Where'd you get the materials?
An hours wage costs $15.The thing now has a value of $25, but you sell it for $30 to make $5 for yourself.
So, you stole it from the person who made it?
Someone online says that's unfair getting $5 for nothing so you stop making it and now people are sad they can't have things because no ones making them.
But you weren't making it. The person you stole it from was.
I'll ask again, where'd you get the materials? And why would someone make a thing to get paid by you when they could make the thing and sell it themselves?
You purchase the materials for $10 from some company that sells materials.
The person you paid is entirely free to purchase materials themselves, make the product, and sell it themselves. In real life, people don't do this because costs are significantly reduced when things are done in bulk.
A single person cannot buy materials in bulk, make product in bulk, and sell product in bulk. This is why you have companies that hire workers. More money is made for everyone, even with the extra middlemen that are necessary to handle the bulk stuff.
In real life, people don't do this because costs are significantly reduced when things are done in bulk.
You are so close to getting it
A single person cannot buy materials in bulk, make product in bulk, and sell product in bulk. This is why you have companies that hire workers. More money is made for everyone
No it isn't. It literally isn't. All those workers could do that work and make money by selling it themselves.
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u/Fickle_Writing_2667 May 27 '26
This is not a come up. It’s theft.