The idea of eroding capitalism is not simply a matter of undermining the dominance of capitalist investments and firms in the market; it also involves eroding the capitalist character of capitalist firms themselves. What does this mean? Eroding the capitalist character of firms means restricting the array of rights that accompany “owning the means of production.” Property rights in the means of production are actually complex bundles of rights, and over time within capitalist societies, the state has imposed significant constraints on these rights. Minimum-wage laws, for example, restrict the right of employers to pay whatever someone is willing to accept. Health and safety rules regulating the workplace restrict the right to organize the production process in a dangerous manner. Pollution and product safety laws restrict the right to impose costs on others, even if this would be the optimal profit-maximizing strategy of a firm. Employment security laws restrict the ability of employers to fire workers whenever they like. In a democratic socialist economy, these constraints on the private property rights of capitalist firms would be extended and deepened in order to advance the values of equality, democracy and solidarity. Such firms would remain capitalist insofar as individuals can invest their capital in firms and receive a return on their investment, but the rights accorded to firms that accompany such private investment would be much more democratically restricted than in a capitalist economy.