| This question <209-3|209-3> overall <53|55> Jimmie: <578|75>. |
| Exam Question 147: Explain the different parts played by coat and linen in the equation “20 yards of linen = 1 coat.” |
| [54] Jimmie: The story of the coat. In viewing the equation “20 yards of linen = 1 coat,” it is easy to see how people would get confused with this statement. In order to understand Marx's theories of value we must look beyond how we view value in our society. It is easy to see 20 yards of linen is needed to make 1 coat but that is not where the true value comes from. In other words the value of the coat is not directly found in the linen, despite its necessity in the equation. Instead, the value of the coat is found through the application of abstract labor, to the linen by a seamstress. |
| This way of thinking is easier to see in today's society. Reference an example of a car. If you had all the parts to build a car in your driveway how much value would they have to you? Unless you are a mechanic, someone who knows the labor skill needed to build a car, your first glance at the pile of metal would lead you to understand you don't have a car, but a pile of car parts. This extreme but logical example shows how value is conveyed through labor. Without a mechanic you have a lot of metal but with the addition of the mechanics labor you have a functioning car. In other words the parts don't work together without the mechanics work to assemble them, his addition of abstract labor. |
| To summarize, the linen is needed for the coat, but the application of labor is needed to add value, which is seen in the coat through the linen. |
| Hans: You are lucky that this question was not graded. You are repeating the same mistake about which I warned in [51]. |
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