Capital _
A critique of political economy
Section 1 –
The two factors of a commodity: Use value – and value
A commodity – an object that by its
properties satisfies human wants of some sort or another
Objects being viewed for their quality and
quantity
The amount of objects that are
produced and their quality are in a relationship
So for example the commodity of
iron depends on the labor required to get this object which supplies the use
value.
Use value is based off of what
the commodity is, how it was achieved, and what class in society can favor this
object
Exchange value – the proportion
in which values in use of one sort are exchanged for those of another sort in
relation to constant change of time and place ( the value of the American
dollar from America to UK)
Value is relative
Intrinsic value
The use of the commodity and its
exchange in relation to how it can be used by specific people geographically or
financially
They are all products of labor –
the jobs and effort put into the development of the commodities will always be
present and adds to the value. But the labor is often forgotten because of the
sheer importance of the object, not the labor
When commodities are exchanged,
the exchange value becomes separate from the use-value, representing the actual
value of the object
Use-value is measured by the
labor put into creating the commodity
The value of a commodity would
remain constant if the labor-time required for its production remained constant
THE VALUE OF THE COMMODITY LIES
DIRECTLY AS THE QUANTITY AND INVERSELY AS THE PRODUCTIVENESS OF THE LABOR
INCORPORATED IN IT
Section 2 – The
twofold character of the labor embodied in commodities
Commodities have two-fold:
use-value and exchange value
Labor – twofold: expression in
value and does not possess same characteristics that belong to is as a creator
of use-values
The labor put into a coat is what
gives the coat the value it has as a want
The division of labor is a
necessary condition for the production of commodities – there is a contained
useful labor to create the commodities; there fore the use-value lies in the
person that creates the object
The value system of what is
considered to be good labor or poor labor ex. the blue collar job vs the white
collar job
An increase in the quantity of
use-values is an increase of material wealth
Section 4 – The
Fetishism of commodities and the secret thereof
The concept of a person’s labor
power transforming the original object into a different object that becomes a
commodity like a table.
The commodity is the extension of
the function of humans, so the intrinsic value becomes dominant and important.
The action of labor and human extension turns the object into a social object,
giving additional values based on human interests
The social character of the person adds the
social value to the commodity
The definite social relationship
between people and the objects that they own, create, trade etc leads to the
fetishism of the object; how people can value the object and how its ideas
change
The labor of the objects does not
become important until the producer of the object places it into the market for
purchase (exchange) thus the value of the object is not fully realized until
that moment
The product must be not only
useful, but useful for others and the social character that is particular labor
has of being the equal of all other particular kinds of labor take the form
that all the physically different kinds of labor that are products of labor
have value – so regardless of the status of the persons exchanging or creating
the object, that value still remains a constant factor and end result
Personal dependence characterizes
the social relations of production – society doesn’t necessarily need someone
to produce objects but they are produced and bought anyway.
The production of goods for a
family themselves does not necessarily count as commodity anymore- it’s the
objects that are helping them survive; they are making these items for
themselves changing the purpose and value of the objects
The power of the class has taken
control of the purpose of the commodity in relation to objects. The objects
have value because the controlling party says so and that value is based off of
what those people think the value of that specific working class has
Chapter 10, Section
1 – the limits of the working day
Labor power is bought and sold as
its value and its value is determined by the working time necessary to its
production
The working day is not constant
but a variable quantity depending on the working day of the person creating the
commodity
Capital value – the worker is the
face of the capital, his soul and ideal as a person lies in that capital work.
The work hours are unknown and are dependent on what the capital needs
The person buying the object is
also buying the power of the person creating the object
Section 2 – The
Greed for Surplus Labor – Manufacturer and Boyard
The man that works to create
commodities must also take his own work effort to survive – any additional
tasks the help the person run the household
The production of surplus labor –
when a consumerist country needs more of a commodity, people are expected to
work longer but their value of life is not always regarded
The works is nothing but personified
labor time – “moments are the elements of profit”: the time that is placed into
the work is where the value and money value of the object comes from
