"Marx, as we have seen, solved it by declaring capital to be a different thing from product, and maintaining that it belonged to society and should be seized by society and employed for the benefit of all alike"

Marx distinguishes between capital and mere products. While products are simply the results of human labor, created for consumption or use, capital represents a specific social relation: it is wealth used to generate more wealth through the exploitation of labor. The traditional view conflates the two, regarding capital as nothing more than accumulated products put to productive use. Marx, however, contends that capital is not just an object or a static thing. Instead, it gains its character as capital only within the context of social relations, namely, the relationship between those who own the means of production and those who sell their labor.

Accordingly, Marx asserts that capital is not the private property of individual owners by natural right but a collective product, arising from the cooperation of the whole society. Its continued existence as a tool of exploitation rests on the legal and economic system that enforces the ownership of the means of production by a small class. By declaring that capital should "belong to society", Marx argues for the abolition of private ownership of a system that enables such exploitation. The reference to capital being "seized by society" is a call for social revolution: collective ownership and democratic control over the means of production, rather than their being monopolized for private profit.

The ultimate goal of Marx's solution is to convert capital from an instrument of private gain to a resource harnessed for the collective benefit. Rather than a select minority appropriating the surplus produced by the majority, the products and wealth generated would be distributed equitably. Work and its fruits would thereby be socialized; the antagonism between capital and labor would be resolved, enabling the free development of all humans. Such a transformation would annul the distinction between those who own and those who labor, advancing economic justice and solidarity. In sum, Tucker highlights how Marx’s theory reframes capital as a fundamentally social product to be reclaimed for the common good.