| This question <531|528> overall <524-4|526> Weasel: <251|561-3>. |
| Question 663: If it is true that the laborers produce all the value, it is necessary to explain why they do not get it. This question becomes especially puzzling if one considers the accumulation of capital which must go on exponentially; one should expect that it outruns the labor supply and therefore laborers should eventually obtain the upper hand in the labor market. Which mechanisms prevent this from happening? |
| [525] Weasel: The Capitalist's monopoly on their exclusive access to the means of production keeps the laborers from ever obtaining the upper hand in the labor market. If the laborers cannot access the means of production, they are forced to repeat the cycle of selling the only thing of value that they have, labor-power, in order to satisfy their consumption needs. |
| A laborer does not produce all of the value. Some of the value of a finished product is derived from the value of the machines and the raw materials that go into producing it, along with the laborer's power. Since the capitalist gets the surplus-value created by their capital and labor-power, they can maintain their monopoly on the means of production. |
| Hans: I agree with your formulation “some of the value of a finished product is derived from the value of the machines and the raw materials” (my emphasis). Machines and raw materials only transfer their own value, which they, like any other commodity, received from labor. They do not creat new value. |
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