I'm pretty sure capital is about owning people more than machines. You loan people money to buy a bunch of machines, and that money you loaned is capital. Investment capital, to be specific. Capital = leverage. It is true that capitalists use their leverage to control the means of production, but it's possible to control it without capitalism. i.e. NASA.

That's what I'm going on. I could very well be completely wrong.

CC: @jay@mastodon.gamedev.place