| This question <101|104> overall <101|103> Clay: <37|251-4>. graded A– |
| Question 176: Describe the joint work of all commodities which is necessary to appropriately express the value of one commodity. |
| [102] Clay: The Common Factor. The joint work of all commodities is to express exchange values for every commodity. The social relation of all commodities is accomplished by using a general commodity to compare all other commodities to and find the appropriate exchange value. The general commodity becomes the guide for all other commodities and the relationship between the general commodity and every other commodity allows different commodities to be exchanged, even if they are not the general commodity. Example from the annotations. Linen is the general commodity. |
| 10 lbs of tea=20 yards of linen |
| 40 lbs of coffee=20 yards of linen |
| Now trade can be facilitated because 10 lbs of tea=40 lbs of coffee. You don't have to have the general commodity to trade because now you know (in terms of linen) how much your commodity is worth and how much you should “pay” for the commodity you want. Using a general commodity allows relative value to be expressed, as Marx puts it “The new form we have just obtained expresses the values of the world of commodities through one single kind of commodity set apart from the rest”. |
| Hans: You have it almost, but not quite. |
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