The Food and Shelter Illusion

cactus flower wrote:

Without wanting to speak for Pax, capitalism rewards people in accordance with the extent to which they hold capital, rather than in accordance with effort.

Only on the basis that they make sensible choices with their capital, there is no or very little reward just for holding capital.

cactus flower wrote:

Most people will never earn much more than it costs to live and will never accumulate capital.

In developed economies I wouldn’t accept that. People decide what to do with their spare money, not enough of them decide to back themselves by going into business, opting instead for the security & easier life of working for someone else. The opportunities are there, but there is risk & very hard work involved, not everyone’s cup of tea.

cactus flower wrote:

There are not enough hours in the day for Bill Gates to earn by his personal efforts the amount of money that comes his way. There are people who have never done a days work in their lives who are multimillionaires.

That’s only true in a very few cases, notwithstanding that fact I continue to make every effort to join them.

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Quote :

[quote="tonys"][quote="cactus flower"]Without wanting to speak for Pax, capitalism rewards people in accordance with the extent to which they hold capital, rather than in accordance with effort.

Only on the basis that they make sensible choices with their capital, there is no or very little reward just for holding capital.

Most rich people pay someone else to decide what to do with their money.

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cactus flower wrote:

Most people will never earn much more than it costs to live and will never accumulate capital.

In developed economies I wouldn’t accept that. People decide what to do with their spare money, not enough of them decide to back themselves by going into business, opting instead for the security & easier life of working for someone else. The opportunities are there, but there is risk & very hard work involved, not everyone’s cup of tea.

Small business people work very long hours and if they don't employ anyone else, earn everything through their own efforts. If they employ other people, their additional profit is essentially a cut of whatever their employees bring in.