this post was submitted on 11 Aug 2023
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Asklemmy
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We have blown the concept of ownership way out of proportion. No one should be able to own things they have absolutely no connection to, like investment firms owning companies they don't work for, houses they don't live in or land they've never been to.
I like this idea, I had never thought about it this way. But it would be hard to implement, what about owning things that does not physically exist? (Like a company)
Yea it would be a pretty radical change, requiring adjustments in many areas. But I do think it's necessary, because people not being personally invested in the things they own (just financially) and profiting from other people's work is imo the big problem with our society right now.
Companies would work the same way. You can own it (make decisions and get profits) as long as you work there. Ofc you can work for multiple companies, but with reasonably restrictions (e.g. 8 companies if you work 40h/week and 5h/week/company). I also think companies should not be able to own other companies, because companies cannot be "personally" involved in anything, only people can.
You don't think investment firms don't do work for the companies they invest in? While some might strip the business for parts many actually invest in something because they see the potential for growth and push the board to make those investments.
Not every investor is looking to gut the company they invested in.
I think you can invest in things, but that shouldn't give you any legal ownership rights.
I also think it should not give you any profits, just the ability to protect your assets from losing value over time (inflation, decay, wealth tax, ...). This way people could either start something themselves and make a profit, or invest it somewhere else to try to preserve the value. What they couldn't do is invest and profit from other people's work.
I know this is pretty radical and would definitely need many changes to the way we do things right now, but I strongly believe that decisionmaking and profits should be reserved for the people actively involved in something. If you want to work with companies you don't run then get payed as an advisor or associate, because that is the work you would be doing.