I believe that people have a right to the product of their labor, which is why I oppose the idea of individuals receiving an income through profits, loans, investments, and rent
Wait a sec.
In my early '20s, I barely slept for 5 years of my life, studying my ass off and at the end earning a double major in Chemical Engineering and Computer Science from a very well-respected school (UW-Madison). I'll toot my own horn here and say that a lot of people could not have earned that kind of double-major no matter how hard they worked.
Those degrees helped me land a good-paying job, at which I worked 80+ hours per week for ~15 years until I had saved enough money to buy an investment property -- a duplex. For that property I owe the bank hundreds of thousands of dollars, which they will take from me (and destroy my credit rating) if for any reason I do not pay the mortgage
every month.
My renters pay me. I provide them the ability to live in a house they otherwise could not afford, and the freedom to basically just walk away. I assume huge financial responsibility and risk.
Are you telling me I should not be able to take their rent checks?
I put some of my money into stocks. Being involved in the IT industry, I have had some insight about what kinds of businesses would provide real value for customers (Ebay) and which were never going to be viable businesses (Ehow). I bought stock businesses like the former, which gave them money they could use to grow their business to add more value to more peoples' lives.
That money is immediate purchasing power I lost -- but for which, I owned a tiny piece of the business, which I could sell later to someone else.
Are you telling me I should not be able to buy and sell ownership of a business?
That I should not be able to lend my money to an entrepreneur that I believe will bring valuable goods and services into the world?
Are you saying that it isn't "work" to run a rental property?
Are you saying it isn't "work" to research a company & understand its investment value?
Are you saying that if my renters and I agree to exchange money for housing, men with guns should come and stop that transaction from taking place?
Are you saying that if a business and I agree to exchange money for part-ownership of the business, men with guns should come and stop that transaction from taking place?
Or are you just saying you are bummed that people
can make money in these ways, but that no such laws should be enacted?
My suspicion is that you haven't had much experience making money, except as an employee, in which your employer absorbed most of the risk inherent to being in business in the first place. That does not make you a bad person. It does mean that you should carefully examine your premises, and their implications. You are very close to Enlightenment
