| This question <17|28> overall <25|27> Moo: <330-55|69>. |
| Question 51: The value of a commodity does not increase if it is made by a slow or inept laborer. Explain carefully why not. |
| [26] Moo: Value of a commodity In order to meassure the value of a commodity, the understanding of Marx's interpretation of value is essential. He defines value as the a weight the commodity has in the market, a underlying deep concept of a exchange of two commodities. Every commodity has a certain value, but can only be measured to the average of total labor-power. Keeping in mind that the value of human labor should not be measured by the quantity of labor put into the commodity, but the quality. Society can only produce a certain amount of human labor-power, a homogeneous mass, measured in units of labor power. |
| These units of labor are socially averaged, and a laborer output can only be measured by these units. Whether or not it is a mine worker in South-Africa or a blue-collar worker in Italy, they still both pruduce the same amount of labor-power according to the social average, therefore value of the commodity (output) is equal. Marx says that: “What exclusivelu determines the magnitude of the value of any article is therefore the amount of labor socially necessary, or the labor-time socially necessary for its productuion (p.129).” |
| The modern society forces people to perform under social and productive pressure, our performance are judged according to units per hour, standards socially accepted, set by the production owner. Taking it a step further, if the value of a commodity should be measured by quantity it suggests that a commodity made by a slow worker has better value than one made by a quicker worker. It is not economically beneficial to spend more time than necessary on a commodity, that those not correspond to the standards od society. A commodity's value is already predetermined, it is what one receive in exchange in the marketplace. The amount of labor-power put into it does not matter. |
| Hans: See my [28]. |
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