Capitalism
n. the socioeconomic system where the means of production (capital) are privately owned instead of publicly owned by the people
What is capitalism?
An economic and political system in which a country's trade and industry are controlled by private owners for profit, rather than by the public.
Capitalism is democratic, socialism is dictatorship
Despite the facade of democracy and neutrality, the capitalist state is connected by a thousand strings to the heads of giant multinational corporations, and all the capitalist parties are united in doing their bidding. These “masters of the universe” are the ones who truly run the economy, buying off the politicians who depend on their funding.
In dimly lit boardrooms, CEOs undemocratically make decisions effecting the lives of millions. The world’s food and drinks industry is dominated by a mere 10 corporations. Through complex webs of subsidiaries, paperwork and branding this is obscured from us. Products owned by the same corporations falsely compete on the market, so we are presented with the false idea that there is a vibrant and varied economy. But in reality, it is controlled by a small cabal, largely white men.
Socialists demand the democratisation of the economy, for every decision that effects society to be made by the people, for the people. The authoritarianism of the Stalinist counter-revolution in the Soviet Union and the rolling back of the historic gains of the Russian revolution was a grotesque caricature of genuine socialism, born out of imperialist invasion and isolation. We say, “You can’t have socialism without democracy and you can’t have democracy without socialism”.
Haven't capitalists earned their wealth?
Imagine you're at a rich friend's house, waiting for them to get ready. You're waiting on the front steps and notice some dandelions growing in the front yard. Out of boredom, you sting them together and have a finished flower crown by the time your friend is ready.
Its a very beautiful crown, and while you and your friend are walking a passerby offers if he may buy it off you. You sell it to him for a dollar and he gives it to his boyfriend, and they both walk off pleased. You're about to pocket the money when your friend stops you.
"Wait, you have to give me 75 cents!"
"Why?" You ask puzzled.
"Well you made that while we were on my property, using flowers from my yard, so I deserve the money."
"Oh, uh sorry, I didn't realize those flowers belonged to you I thought cause you weren't growing them, they were just growing there, that it was cool. I can give you like 25 cents if you want though."
Your rich friend rolls their eyes. "I own property and you don't. You don't even had a yard to pick weeds from, or a front step to sit on so you never could have made that crown without me. So I deserve most of the money."
You're surprised at how greedy your friend is being. "Wait, no, that's not how that works. You don't deserve more just cause you own more. Without me turning those weeds into a crown, they would've been worth much less. Its my labor that made the thing worth paying for. I'll give you 25 cents and that's it."
Now replace flower crown with whatever job you do, friend with the capitalists, flowers and steps as the capital, private property, or means of production (there's a lot of names for it I know) and you'll understand perfectly the nature of capitalism.
Capitalism is an economic system where a class of people own the means of production, factories, commercial farmland, natural resources, mines, oil reserves, apartment complexes, etc. Anything that is owned specifically for profiting off of, and that isn't being worked directly by the person who owns it, like you would work your personal garden, but a ceo would have laborers work in his fields.
Because the rich capitalists own the means of production, other people cannot make what they need to survive without agreeing to work for them. You can't just walk into the woods and survive, usually because the woods are privately or state owned, but also because humans just don't survive well like that, we're designed for society. But in a capitalist society you must earn money to purchase access to the things you need to live, food, shelter, water, healthcare, because the people do not own the resources, they must be bought from the upper class, your landlord, CEOs, billionaires, the bourgeois. This means you agree to work for whatever they decide to pay you, even though your labor clearly makes much, much more profit than what your earning. The average McDonalds worker would earn roughly 60 dollars an hour if profit (money left over after paying operational costs) was distributed equally amongst employees.