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[252] Desk: Time being a critical factor. Time is the critical factor when Marx wishes to discuss labor and
labor value. Labor cannot be measured by the drops of sweat of a
person nor his discomfort because of time. I wish to use several
examples showing the importance of time. Time is something that
everyone can relate to, no matter the situation no one can avoid how
time is essential in one's life. Marx states that the measure of the
value of things is the duration of the labor on the average requisite,
performed with the average amount of skill and diligence, and in the
normal industrial conditions at any given time. In this example we
will use the construction of a house. The builder pays the laborer for
his labor-power at its value, that is to say, by giving him the amount
of money which, representing six hours labor, permits him to build the
house at a specific need; but as he thus obtains the free disposal of
this productive force for which he has paid, he acquires everything it
produces during the entire day. He will never pay the worker on the
drops of sweat or the discomfort of the worker for that reason. The
employer has different methods of increasing his profits. The first
consists in multiplying the number of his workmen. The second method
is to lengthen the working day. The longer the laborer works beyond
the necessary time which represents his wages, the greater the profit
he would have. |
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