| This question <70|96> overall <70|72> Fritz: <70|78>. |
| 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? |
| [71] Fritz: Courtney Love Emma wrote in [61]: |
| For Marx a commodity is a use value which is produced for sale in the market and thus has an exchange value. The “value” referred to in the question is the exchange value. |
| Doesn't “value” refer to the amount of abstract labor contained in the good or service. For example, the price (exchange value) can fluctuate, but its value remains constant. |
| of “average human labor power” which is a social interpretation and measurement of the abstrac labor time necessary to produce a commodity. It is an attempt at establishing a norm against which to measure the productivity and value of other labor. |
| Abstract labor is characterized as the general expenditure of human energy. |
| if we wanted to quantify how many brake shoes are produced using one hour of abstract labor, how would we go about it? |
| would we pluck 100 people at random and check their productivity? or, would we find 100 people who are adept at this task and check their productivity? |
| you provide the beginnings of an answer: |
| “prevailing socially normal conditions of production and with the socially average degree of skill and intensity,” |
| but question remains -- if I were such a poor builder of brake shoes that no capitalist would ever hire me, would I still be included in determining the amount of abstract labor needed for creating a brake shoe? |
| if I am a very adept builder of brake shoes, and yet my personal supply curve is such that I will never be demanded, am I included in the determination of the abstract labor necessary for producing brake shoes? |
| basically, my question boils down to whether the definition of abstract labor is ultimately based upon the supply and demand for commodities. |
| or if it simply a question of the skill and intensity of the average human? |
| Better to use Courtney Love and Jackson Pollack. |
| Was not Jackson Pollack the artist dripper? |
| Cheers. Fritz |
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