Stuart, you have apparently misunderstood or dodged the substance of my unanswered posts 8470 and 8587.The point is not income.
The point is what people have to do in order to live.
The point is that most jobs in our affluent society require little to no imagination or autonomy or skill.
Yes, some people can transcend that problem by becoming capitalists. But every capitalist must have wage laborers and wage labor must be broken down into simple, low skill, monotonous routines in order to compete with all the other capitalist companies doing the same. Thus, the problem of unimaginative, unautonomous, unskilled work is perpetuated again and again.
You avoid this point!
Another problem you overlook is that profit is produced by wage laborers who do not receive a full share of what they produce. If laborers received all they worked for, there would not be any profit---unless you wish to assert that profit is the result of 'simply marking up the price of a commodity,' something not even Adam Smith would countenance.
Why is that? Because, in return, you would purchase your materials at a higher cost each time and would be compelled to mark up your prices after production was complete. What goes around comes around---but that wouldn't add one iota of value once everyone did it (no matter how many times they did it)!
Therefore, you must concede that profits originate from the unpaid portion of what labor produces.
To defend such a system is untenable.
To distract the worker with your tall tales of lottery wins is sheer legerdemain.
Someday, the marks will wise up. Have your passport in order.
