Employment, by nature, is value extraction.
A business owner receives more value from the employees labor than what the employee is compensated for. This is generally true but not always true.
If a business owner did not do this, they would not accrue value to the business and would go bankrupt. This is necessary value extraction so it's not explicitly bad or good.
Similarly, a business franchised in a place, let's say Starbucks, necessarily must capture value produced by the locale it's serving, extract some margin of that value and deliver to shareholders or corporate office, wherever they may be (often far removed from the locale being extracted from).
Self employment or employment in the home is where you can begin to produce excess value that is not capture by others and extracted elsewhere, but comes with risks and trade offs. I think this is why many are OK with having their productive value extracted elsewhere, it negates concern or responsibility and if often met with praise or gratitude that cannot be found elsewhere.
There are nuanced edges to all these thoughts so I'd love to hear it in the comments. Where is your value going? Could it be directed to a better end?
For the record, this is not a pure monetary thesis, even though value is often put into monetary terms.
I'll share my own. I work within a niche of a niche of a niche so am able to command decent monetary value (when compared with peers in industry) but command great value in my time allocation. This time flexibility balances well against my companies needs for domain specific expertise (and motivation, tbh).
Some reference points to consider:
🏛️ Physical capital
1. Financial — your money
2. Material — the physical goods/stuff you own
3. Natural — "essentially your ability to produce food" (land, livestock, fertility)
🧠 Personal capital (relating to yourself as an individual)
4. Intellectual — what you know: mindset and skills you offer the world
5. Experiential — what you've done: hands-on experience
6. Vital — your mental health and physical well-being
🤝 Relational capital (relationships and interactions with the world)
7. Social — your network and banked favors
8. Cultural — the shared norms and subculture of your group
9. Spiritual — "What are your ideals? What's your life's purpose?"
s/o
@rev.hodl 
