The proletariat did not have to seize the means of production in a violent socialist coup.

Capitalism handed the means of production to the workers voluntarily.

And it did so for a profit.

We traded violent destructive revolution for peaceful productive markets… and accomplished more than socialism could ever imagine. And we are just getting started.

Socialists have long seen injustice in the fact that the workers who do the labor don't get to keep the entire product of their labor.

And capitalists have responded by claiming that providing the means of production and organization entitle them, not the workers, to the profits.

But the entire argument is moot. 

Production costs have dropped so low that basically anyone can accumulate the capital to launch an independent endeavor.

And that has revealed that it was never really about the capital…

Socialists are right about one thing: labor is the main driver behind production.

Unfortunately, they fail to see the value in the labor of the capitalists and managers.

Allocating capital to productive endeavors takes skillful labor. Organizing and running a business takes skillful labor. That's why most new businesses fail.

But any worker who has these skills can now buck their capitalist overlords, seize their own means of production, and the socialist revolution is complete.

Example 1: A hotel cleaner quits and rents a spare bedroom on Airbnb.

Now he cleans rooms and keeps the entire product of his labor. But he also has to do some of the labor that management and concierge used to do… Display the room, greet guests, solve problems…

Airbnb profits by helping people use their extra capital (empty rooms) for profit, as a means of production.