WHO IS A CAPITALIST?
If a man owns a shovel and makes his living by digging with it, is he a capitalist? No. Though his shovel may correctly be termed his “capital,” and he may think of himself as a capitalist, he isn’t truly a capitalist until he hires somebody else to do his digging for him. If he works for and by himself, he is a free agent, a individual laborer for hire, a contractor, or a tradesman not a capitalist. He engages in free enterprise and the free enterprises system. The capitalist may also engage in the free enterprise system, but but profits from the labor of others. Free enterprise and capitalism are not synonymous, and the popular misconception that they are, causes no end of confusion and trouble. Henry Ford was not a capitalist while he was building horseless carriages in his workshop. He became a capitalist when he had a proposal to sell and raised “capital” from other capitalists to put others to work building Ford Cars. Entrepreneurs seldom begin as capitalists. First they are indi
