I don’t want to make money taking advantage of others.
I got a whole bunch of money saved up despite working a job that pays not necessarily the best because I live with my parents and have very few expenses. I was wondering about the different perspectives on this sub regarding someone in my situation investing in the stock market. Would that make me a member of the owning class that makes money off of the labor of others and therefore immoral? If I only invested in companies that pay their employees a living wage would that then be moral? (If so, do you have any suggestions of companies that would fall under this)? If members of the working class own stocks does it make it socialism (or close enough to that idea that you would consider it moral)? If so, if I were ever to start my own business, and still owned the stocks, would that then make me a member of the owning class and immoral?
Or are these things only immoral if a person is wealth hoarding? Personally, if I ever were to become wealthy (have surplus money after believing I have enough money to live meagerly but comfortable for the rest of my life without having to work to survive) I would want to give much of my wealth to the fight hunger, homelessness, and aid disaster relief. Does that then make it okay in your eyes?
Slightly off-topic, but was also curious if you all think someone can start a business and hire an employee in a truly moral way that doesn’t take advantage of them in our current society? If you were to give them a percentage of the business and made sure they were paid at absolute minimum what is considered a living wage for the area, is that okay in your eyes?
Thanks in advance for any opinions. Since this is an open ended opinion question, I hope there is good interesting conversation about this topic.