| This question <37|44> overall <42|44> Hans: <35|44>. |
| Question 88: Does skilled labor (i.e., labor for which schooling and training is necessary, for instance the labor of an engineer) produce more value per hour than unskilled labor (like the labor of a janitor)? Explain! |
| [43] Hans: Abstract Labor Merlin's first sentence in [36] says that all labors, skilled or unskilled, are equal, and the second sentence says that skilled labor creates more value than unskilled labor. There is a certain tension in this, but Merlin gives the solution too: the difference between skilled and unskilled labor is not qualitative, but only quantitative. One hour of skilled labor is two hours of unskilled labor in one, since one also has to count the time required to acquire the skill. |
| At the end, Merlin has the following question: |
| Hans -Although I have read your notes, I find the differences between abstract labor, labor power, human labor power, and socially necessary labor confusing. Can you clarify the differences? |
| Labor power is the ability to work. Every human has it, therefore Marx sometimes calls it human labor power. The same human can do many different things with his or her labor power, that is why Marx calls the expenditure of human labor power “abstract labor”. It is that what all labors have in common. Socially necesary labor is the quantitative aspect of abstract labor, as you have explained in your response to Kids. |
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