HeavenlyPossum on Nostr: Capitalism is a system in which some people, called capitalists, own the power to ...

Capitalism is a system in which some people, called capitalists, own the power to permit or deny other people permission to labor productively.

You’ve probably encountered a version of this definition that goes something like “private ownership of the means of production.” And that version isn’t bad, but it makes it seem like the thing that really matters is “the means of production,” the stuff we use to make more stuff. But what really matters in capitalism is that power to grant or withhold permission to others to labor productively.

Capitalism is, at its heart, not about stuff. It’s about social relationships and it’s about *sabotage*.

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