[EarthIsHome]

Pensioners and wage earners are not capitalists. They depend on wages to live. Calling yourself a capitalist doesn't make you have capital.

True capitalists are those who do not need wages (e.g. CEOs of airliners, billionaires, etc.).

[yyy888sss]

In Australia we have Superannuation (compulsory contributions retirement fund) so actually pensioners are expected to live partly off capital gains/sale of shares. Of course their portfolios usually get more defensive (less stock more bonds) the older they get.

[EarthIsHome]

That is very similar to what we have in the US; we have 401(k)s, 403(b)s, 457(b)s etc. that tie our retirement to the stock market. In many cases, employers force their employees to enroll in them.

Think about these retirement accounts this way: capitalists take our money now under the presumption we will get it back when we're 60+. In the mean time, while we're working for a living wage, the capitalists get to profit off our labor now. They get to continue destroying the planet and exploiting other wage earners. They don't need a wage to live.

1) While employees have these retirement accounts, we are forced to contribute to them. We are forced into ensuring the well-being of capitalism.

2) Being forced to contribute to these accounts is diametrically opposed to the interests of our class. It makes us wish well for the stock market because our retirement is tied to it. But a more profitable stock market leads to more exploitation of the labor of my class. For these profits to exist, either you keep labor costs low, or increase prices.

I would prefer to extricate our retirement from the stock market and capitalism.