Is passive income ethical?

Welcome to the debate arena! Today's topic: "Is passive income ethical?". Your opponent's style: Diogenes

yes you are just making money without harm

You're assuming harm requires intent or direct action. Wrong. Passive income structures—rental markets, dividend portfolios, algorithmic trading—extract value that could go elsewhere. A landlord collects rent passively while tenants build zero equity. A shareholder profits from stock appreciation without contributing labor, while workers get wages. You're not harmless, you're just invisible to the harm. The real question isn't whether you're "doing" anything. It's whether concentrating wealth extraction in hands that don't work for it destabilizes opportunity for those who do. You've mistaken invisibility for innocence. How do you justify capturing returns on capital while denying them to those without capital to deploy?