> My problem with these arguments is that there is supposedly a permanent class of “owners” and one of “workers”, and the workers are completely without agency

> My problem with these arguments is that there is supposedly a permanent class of “owners” and one of “workers”, and the workers are completely without agency nor ability to become owners themselves. That's because there is. Whatever workers become owners is usually through a lucky windfall, e.g. finding a niche, being a market first-comer, marrying to a person who is an "owner", etc. It doesn't scale, so any tales of mass upward mobility are usually exaggerated and not applicable in practice. However, none of these are an excuse to stop doing anything. You can still play by the capitalist game and improve your station, even without becoming an owner. That still requires some luck (e.g. having a decent childhood and education), but it is at least attainable.