Perhaps I do find the term “social capital” absurd and distasteful. Mainly, I think of it as yet another form of privilege, but “check your privilege” rhetoric, I must admit, is starting to really get old, so I didn’t phrase it that way; at least I don’t think I did. I’m actually very interested in anything you or anyone else has to say about kids growing up in entrepreneurial families. I don’t necessarily regard that as privilege, but I do find it impossible to believe there is no upside. To answer one of your questions, no, I categorically do not think it is privileged to have to beg your clients to pay you for services rendered. I’m on the fence as to whether it’s more or less degrading than having to beg people for the opportunity to perform the services in the first place (but of curse the freelancer is under that burden also). At least the stiffed contractor has the right (by the code of ethics I run on, anyway) to say they’ve done whatever it is professionally. Likewise about wondering where one’s next paycheck is coming from. Ironically, many pro-market types seem to me to equate precarity of livelihood with freedom, if not privilege, or IMHO equivalently, equate economic security with peonage, or “being taken care of.” Thank you for at least labeling economic insecurity as a disadvantage. I tend to go a bit further; seeing it as a strategy of social control. I admit that “it’s not personal” is a hard concept for me to wrap my brain around, even though it’s an obvious feature of *&^%$#@ economics.

I take it that taking on an employee would make you a non-Wobbly, if I understand their membership criteria correctly. What about an apprentice? 😉

I’m not entirely sure small-entrepreneur-to-employee is where “social capital” has the most opportunity for redistribution. Factors such as non-compete agreements, disclosure agreements and other forms of contract feudalism are direct impediments to redistribution of social and human capital, and are by no means unique to “big business.” I’ve always thought that the labor movement is the appropriate venue for transmission of social capital. Basically, I’m thinking the craft-union notion of apprenticeship, minus the notion of trade secrets. Then amp it up with what I’ll call a “cross training” program, in which hopefully one can fit dozens of in-depth apprenticeships in a lifetime. I gave a rough outline of how this might be done in my post on angel economics. Also, a move to standardization of terminology, or at least weights and measures, for heaven’s sake, would be nice so each “trade” isn’t speaking its own language.