If you're a middle-class American - or the child of one - bopping along to the Left's attack on capitalism, you need to understand that it's YOUR wealth and prosperity they hate and want to destroy, not the unfairly super-rich. YOU are the point of capitalism.
The dirty little secret is that a disproportionate share of wealth and capital always ends up in the hands of the elite, the "one percent," under ANY system of economics or politics. What we're arguing about is how the middle and lower range of wealth should be distributed.
We also quibble a bit over who should be in that top one percent, what should be done to get there, although the children of left-wing revolutions are always comically surprised that a lot of the same people are still sitting at the top when it's over, wearing Party armbands.
That would be particularly true if the Marxist revolution currently attacking America was to succeed. You have to be dumber than a bag of hammers to think the super-rich celebrities, "woke" CEOs, and politicians leading this "movement" haven't taken steps to protect THEIR riches.
One virtue of capitalism is that it has the best odds of ensuring that the super-rich generated positive value for society and the economy on their way up. It ain't perfect, but it's a damn sight better than the murderous parasites who end up on top under every other system.
But the real action is deciding who gets to control the middle and lower regions of capital - small business operations, modest property and investments, and of course the capital each and every one of us owns: the value of our own labor. That's what we're really fighting over.
Capitalism is the one and only system that allows people in the middle and lower classes to own capital. That's it. That's the reality under attack by Marxism, which absolutely LOATHES the notion of the unwashed masses owning property, controlling their labor, and investing.
Oh, the softer forms of collectivism will CLAIM they're all in favor of you proles owning stuff, and they'll even claim their system does a better job of ensuring your ownership and protecting you from exploitation by evil capitalists, but they're lying through their teeth.
What you discover when any form of collectivism - Marxism, socialism, communism, fascism, take your pick - takes over society is that suddenly the meaning of "ownership" has been redefined. You aren't free to dispose of labor and property as YOU see fit, even if you "own" it.
It's a lot like how the cancel culture Marxists insist they believe in free speech - they just think there should be limits, imposed by them, on what you can say without steep consequences. You're "free" to talk, as long as you choose from the Party's menu of permitted words.
That's how they view property and economic freedom as well. Communists tell you everybody owns everything, which means nobody owns anything... and then you learn the REAL owners of everything will kill you, or ship you off to the gulag, if you question their commands.
Fascists, including the supposedly "softer" version of fascism embraced by most of the modern American Left, will tell you they're all in favor of success, ownership, entrepreneurship. They love small business so much it hurts. All they want is "opportunity" for everyone!
But then you find out you don't really own the stuff you worked and paid for. You're expected to work tirelessly for the eternal ruling Party and its goals. Their priorities absolutely transcend yours. They'll tell you what you must do with that capital you own.
And what you learn about fascism, including the "soft" and "enlightened" variety, is that it's insanely vicious toward those who challenge the ruling Party or fail to contribute to its agenda. Fascist leadership constantly stokes mob outrage to keep the owners of capital in line.
Fascists need their followers to feel like they're in a constant state of war. It's one of the reasons fascism is usually militaristic - it loves that vision of society marching in unison toward the Party's goals. Fascists want their followers to see life as a battlefield.
The only respite you will ever have from endless war, the only meaningful freedom you will ever have, flows from the private ownership of labor, property, and investments: CAPITALISM.
Ownership sets you free. Ownership means your opinion matters. It means you must be PERSUADED, not commanded. Capitalism is the fully armed and operational power of the middle and lower classes to say "no." Under all other systems, only the elite can do that.
YOU decide who can use your property and how much they must pay for rent or ownership. YOU decide what endeavors you will support with your patronage, what plans you will participate in. YOU decide what to do with your labor. You can say "no" to proposals you dislike.
And here's the really good part: those who want your capital must compete to earn your approval. Those who want your labor have to pay for it. Those who want your money have to PERSUADE you to spend it. They don't merely need to amass enough power to force your compliance.
That doesn't mean you have to embrace every single thing done by every capitalist entity, or unquestioningly believe you live in the best of all possible worlds. Indeed, capitalism is the only system that doesn't harshly punish you for challenging it, for asking questions.
But if you're on board with any anti-capitalist crusade right now, I challenge you to look around at your fellow social justice warriors and ask: "What would they do to me if I disagreed with them? What would they do if I said 'no' to them?" And you KNOW the answer, don't you?
The right to refuse is inextricably tied to the ownership of capital. Without capitalism, you might be allowed to complain a little, but you can never put your foot down when the elites who DO own everything - including your labor and property - give their orders.
And the really sad irony is that the authoritarians, totalitarians, Marxists, Communists, fascists, etc. won't even deny that. They tout the alleged efficiency and enforced "harmony" of their systems as prime virtues. They loathe intransigence above all else. Just ask them. /end
