Mészáros distinguishes the wider system of capital from a narrow focus on private capitalist ownership. His critique invites attention to hierarchical control over labour, production and social reproduction, including arrangements that call themselves post-capitalist. Key assumption: abolishing private ownership alone does not necessarily overcome the power relations of capital. Assessment: a significant warning that can be investigated through decision rights and institutional practice. The failure question: when state command replaces private command, have people acquired control or merely changed who commands them? Our test: measure the capacity to initiate, refuse, coordinate and revise production decisions across different ownership structures.