This question <35|211-6> overall <36|38> Belmont: <556|225-7>. graded B–  
  Question 105: When Marx wrote that labor is the father and the earth the mother of use-values, should he also have included produced means of production in addition to nature and labor?   
  [37] Belmont: Labor and Nature.   Marx is quoted as saying “Useful labor is a necessary condition, independent of all forms of society, for the existence of the human race; it is an external nature imposed necessity, in order to mediate the metabolism between man and nature, and thus human life.” The question asks if produced means of production should be put on the same level as labor and earth. Labor and earth are necessities in producing a commodity, means of production is just a way for someone to make money off the labor of others. Without modern means of production would commodities still reach the final stage of production? The answer is yes. I don't believe means of production is anywhere near the same level of importance as the raw materials and work put into producing a commodity because it is a luxury rather than a necessity. If labor is the father and earth the mother I would rank means of production as the teenager who is waiting for their parents to die so he can inherit what his parents worked so hard for. The problem with modern day is the labor isn't given any credit. The owners of the production factories ride the coat tails of the people and materials that actually produce the commodity, and sit back and get rich off of them. I agree with Antonio in that the capitalists exploit the rest of society and use what has been around forever and act like it is some sort of new idea they have just come up with.   
  Hans: Capitalists are unnecessary; this does not mean means of production are unnecessary. How many modern use-values can be produced with just labor and nature as inputs? Hardly any.   
 
 
 
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