Hey everyone,

When most people think of passive income, they picture a landlord, an ice cream shop owner, or a stock investor. All of these these things I find to be unethical.

But I’m wondering if you would consider there to be such a thing as ethical passive income?

Take for example: Someone flipping motorcycles, which is something I’ve considered doing myself. On one hand, if I fix up my bike using my own labor only, and then sell for a modest profit, it seems ethical because it’s by the fruits of my own labor (I understand that if you think deep enough, there is still people in the parts market being taken advantage. However, this is out of my control and an inherent aspect of living in a capitalist nation).

On the other hand, I see the issues with commodifying something vital like transportation. And while I don’t want to take part in that system, motorcycles are more of a recreational commodity (at least where I live where there is 6 months of winter). So I’m not sure if it’s as bad as flipping cars or houses.

In addition, it seems like with such low wages in the U.S., some form of passive income almost seems necessary to ever achieve retirement or avoid selling my labor for 40-60 hrs a week the rest of my life.

I’m interested to hear people’s opinion on this.

  • invalidusernamelol [he/him]
    ·
    4 years ago

    I've been selling 3D printed stuff that I designed and it feels like possibly the only form of moderately ethical passive income. If I was able to produce the plastic filament myself (it's possible, I just don't have the space) I would have the entire supply chain focused on myself. I design the product, I manufacture the product, I ship the product. Only things besides the filament out of my control are spare parts and USPS wages.

    This is mainly passive because I've automated the process so I just click a button, go to sleep, and wake up to a finished product that I put in a box and ship.