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[114] Thugtorious: Chicken and Egg. The question, in my opinion, still remains a little unanswered. It is a
sort of “chicken and the egg” paradox: is it the differing useful labors
or the use-values of the commodities themselves that allows for
exchange? I think that the question itself needs a little
clarification: the commodities themselves are exchanged amongst people
because of their different use-values, i.e. you would not exchange
commodity A with a person for commodity B if you did not see a potential
use-value within commodity B. However, below this market transaction,
you will find that the commodities are able to be exchanged in this
manner also because of their use-value. The useful labor congealed in
the commodities must be different in order for them to be able to be
exchanged. However, if the use-values of the final product are the
same, then the labor expended within production must also be the same.
If two commodities have the same use-values then they cannot be
exchanged as commodities in the market. And, the congealed labor within
the commodities is the same. The inverse of this is also true: if the
commodities have different use-values, then they can be exchanged, and
the labor congealed in them must be different. So, in answering the
question, it is the use-value of the commodities being different that
allows them to be exchanged and also provides the reason of why they are
exchanged. |
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