#MEANS OF PRODUCTION EXAMPLES FREE#

Therefore, the shorter the time required for training up to a particular sort of work, the smaller is the cost of production of the worker, the lower is the price of his labor-power, his wages. It is the cost required for the maintenance of the laborer as a laborer, and for his education and training as a laborer. What, then, is the cost of production of labor-power?

But within the limits of these fluctuations the price of labor-power will be determined by the cost of production, by the labor-time necessary for production of this commodity: labor-power. Wages will now rise, now fall, according to the relation of supply and demand, according as competition shapes itself between the buyers of labor-power, the capitalists, and the sellers of labor-power, the workers. The fluctuations of wages correspond to the fluctuation in the price of commodities in general. Now, the same general laws which regulate the price of commodities in general, naturally regulate wages, or the price of labor-power. She does not belong to this or that capitalist, but to the capitalist class and it is for her to find her own employer – i.e., to find a buyer in this capitalist class. The worker leaves the capitalist, to whom she has sold herself, as often as she chooses, and the capitalist discharges her as often as he sees fit, as soon as he no longer gets any use, or not the required use, out of her. But the worker, whose only source of income is the sale of her labor-power, cannot leave the whole class of buyers, i.e., the capitalist class, unless she gives up her own existence. The laborer belongs neither to an owner nor to the soil, but eight, 10, 12, 15 hours of her daily life belong to whomsoever buys them. She auctions off eight, 10, 12, 15 hours of her life, one day like the next, to the highest bidder, to the owner of raw materials, tools, and the means of life – i.e., to the capitalist.

#MEANS OF PRODUCTION EXAMPLES FREE#

The free laborer, on the other hand, sells her very self, and that by fractions. It is not he who receives wages from the owner of the land it is rather the owner of the land who receives a tribute from him. The serf belongs to the soil, and to the lord of the soil he brings its fruit. The serf sells only a portion of his labor-power. She herself is a commodity, but her labor-power is not her commodity. The slave, together with her labor-power, was sold to her owner once for all. She is a commodity that can pass from the hand of one owner to that of another. Labor was not always wage-labor, i.e., free labor. The slave did not sell her labor-power to the slave-owner, any more than the ox sells his labor to the farmer. Labor-power was not always a commodity (merchandise). His life-activity, therefore, is but a means of securing his own existence. He works that he may keep alive. Wages are only a special name for the price of labor-power and are usually called the price of labor it is the special name for the price of this peculiar commodity, which has no other repository than human flesh and blood.Ĭonsequently, labor-power is a commodity which its possessor, the wage-worker, sells to the capitalist. Why does he sell it? It is in order to live.īut the putting of labor-power into action – i.e., the work – is the active expression of the laborer’s own life. And this life activity he sells to another person in order to secure the necessary means of life. And after she has bought it, she uses it up by letting the workers work during the stipulated time. What they actually sell to the capitalist for money is their labor-power. This labor-power the capitalist buys for a day, a week, a month, etc. They would all agree upon one point: that wages are the amount of money which the capitalist pays for a certain period of work or for a certain amount of work.Ĭonsequently, it appears that the capitalist buys their labor with money, and that for money they sell her their labor. If several workmen were to be asked: “How much wages do you get?”, one would reply, “I get $9 an hour,” “$50 a day,” and so on. When reading, think about your own experiences with work and wages. Does this explanation help you understand the social relationship between the worker and the employer? Wage Labor and Capital He would eventually have much more to say on the matter in his multi-volume masterpiece, Capital.

Introduction – Why this is important and what to look forĪs with the previous selection (1c), this piece was written by Marx to workers themselves as an explanation of how wages were determined and valued.

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