| This question <30|53> overall <31|33> Gottlieb: <506|200-6>. |
| Question 53: The value of a commodity does not increase if it is made by a slow or inept laborer. Explain carefully why not. Whose decision is it to do things this way? How is it enforced? |
| [32] Gottlieb: The value of labor Marx makes the argument that the value of a commodity relates directly to the amount of labor it takes to create the commodity. He makes a point to show, however, that a lazy or inept worker does not make his or her commodity more valuable simply because it takes more of their labor time. Marx says that the worker must be held to a standard, a minimum standard, which is the average of the society. This would cause those below average to “hurry up” to meet the minimum requirements. He does not follow the thought further as he should. If those below the average are constantly forcing themselves to work faster, then the average would continuously rise, raising the minimum standards for production and raising the output for all of the workers because they all want to “meet the minimum requirements.” The only other option in keeping with this “average labor time” rule is that instead of the slower workers having to “hurry up,” the faster workers must slow down lowering the minimum standard. |
| It is the society as a whole who decides how much value a commodity holds due to the amount of time it allocates to produce the commodity. Marx should have pointed out in more detail the “theoretical” problem of captialistic societies of mismatching labor to different types of production. He says that in a capitalistic society, “Wasted labor will then be a labor in which the producer is not matched to the production in order to make his or her best contribution.” The CEO will produce no more valuable commodities than the car salesman in a perfect society if they are 1) Producing commodities with the same labor time, and 2) are both matched with the production of a commodity in which they make their best contribution. I am confused however which society decides the value of the commodity. Would this be on a local, national, or world level. Surely I cannot type as fast as most secretaries, but I can type faster than most aboriginies. Who constitues the average? Adherance to this rule is not enforced in a capitalistic society. |
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