I constantly see people write that they are “capitalists”. No — they aren’t. I’m pretty sure that they could easily verify this by simply checking their bank account. One cannot be a capitalist without capital, only an enabler of capitalism, or one of its willful victims. We need to stress this point so that the people stop imagining that there is any path from where they are to actually becoming a capitalist short of winning a massive lottery.

The odds against such are very similar to winning such a lottery, especially if one is well into their prime without having accumulated any of the tools needed to do so. This is even further compounded by the “real” capitalists throwing roadblocks in front of them to make certain they never join that privileged club.

The tech revolution has allowed a few rare examples to sneak in the door, but so few as to be statistically non-existent. Capitalists are generally determined by birthright because capitalism is just another remake of feudalism and the generational rule of the wellborn. America, for all of its reputation for creating wealth, only changed some of the names in that club. It didn’t actually change the rules.