| This question <63|63> overall <62|64> Slick: <514|153>. |
| Question 143: In a capitalist economy very few commodities are directly exchanged against each other: almost all transactions involve money and a commodity. Why does Marx start his investigation with the exchange relation between two commodities, instead with the much more common relation between money and a commodity? |
| [63] Slick: Marx is setting up for his discussion on the quantitative determinacy of the relative form of value, on page 144 in Capital. This is where Marx compares commodities A and B, and their relative value depending on quantity and quality of labor put into each. |
| In order to explain relative value of commodities, Marx wants the reader to understand that raw materials do not equate to a commodity ready for exchange. Marx states earlier the chemical composition of butyric acid and propyl formate are the same, yet they are not the same thing. Therefore, a coat is made of 20 yards of linen, but the two are not the same. Their use-values and exchange-values differ, relative to their actual usefulness and relative to who performs the exchange. |
| We must understand the relationship between the composition of commodities and the commodities themselves and their relative exchange-values before moving onto the relationship between the commodity and money. Money allows for commodities to be exchanged while taking into account the labor required to produce the commodity. |
| Hans: You are repeating the same mistake about which I warned in [51]. |
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