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[221] Zone: The study of commodities in a capitalist society is
directly related to the separation of the working
class from the capitalist class. These commodities are
produced not to be used by the individual who produces
them but they are produced to be exchanged and to make
a profit. Marx states that the value of a commodity is
the labor that is used to create it. Therefore it
should seem that the workers who create this value
should receive the value in return for their work.
This is obviously not the case. The capitalists who
create the production environment for the worker take
this value away from the worker and give the worker a
wage value in relation to their input to the
commodity. The difference of wages in the sphere of
production creates the inequality and ultimately the
separation between the classes. The capitalists wish
to increase profits as much as possible, while
maintaining their production levels by keeping the
workers at a low subsistence wage. When the excess
value of this production is given solely to the
capitalist it creates immense wealth, while the worker
whose labor is embodied in the commodity is given
little for the work. When examining the separation
between classes it is important to look at the
commodity and especially the production of the
commodity to see where this conflict starts. |
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