| This question <561-3|563-4> overall <563|563-2> MarxMaximus: <561-5|561-5>. |
| Question 555: What is wrong with the argument that the economic self-interest of the capitalists themselves will see to it that they treat their workers well? |
| [563-1] MarxMaximus: The capitalists seldom have any idea how the common laborer is being treated. Marx makes the excellent point with the analogy to the slave trade. Even if the capitalists did know what was going on, it really wouldn't matter if their work force was treated poorly because there is always a surplus of labor. If the Master kills his slave by overworking him, he just needs more capital to go to the slave trade and buy a new one. In today's world we don't call it slavery but labor seems to be bought and sold almost in the same way. The surplus of labor is what defeats the “economic self-interest” for the capitalist treat its workers well. |
| Hans: I liked your in-class exam too, it was creative and brought some new ideas. Here is what you wrote: |
| The capitalists are often detached from the workers and are thus unaware of how the workers are being treated. They just focus on the bottom line and if sales and profits are up they just want to maintain that growth. This is really a great question and could be rephrased “why do the managers usually make sustantially more than the laborers?” For some reason our society thinks these managers have more value, eventhough they rarely produce anything themselves. |
| My answer: managers are paid so much more so that they identify with the capitalists and do not fraternize with the workers. |
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