They asked me “why would anyone start a business if they can’t totally own it?”
"So you're saying nobody should start a business if they can't fully self-fund it? 1) that's not the way the world works now and 2) that sounds hellish, where only the rich have the chance to make more money."
If they try to explain how funding a startup with borrowed money is 'different actually' then you can go into hierarchies of exploitation. i.e. the business makes money by exploiting the employees (which is the only reason you would want to 'own' a business instead of just working there, according to your opponent - they've already said they don't think people would start businesses except to make money). The business does this by using its existing capital advantage, which is rented from the bank in exchange for some of that exploited money (i.e. profit) flowing back to the bank.
"So you're saying nobody should start a business if they can't fully self-fund it? 1) that's not the way the world works now and 2) that sounds hellish, where only the rich have the chance to make more money."
If they try to explain how funding a startup with borrowed money is 'different actually' then you can go into hierarchies of exploitation. i.e. the business makes money by exploiting the employees (which is the only reason you would want to 'own' a business instead of just working there, according to your opponent - they've already said they don't think people would start businesses except to make money). The business does this by using its existing capital advantage, which is rented from the bank in exchange for some of that exploited money (i.e. profit) flowing back to the bank.