| This question <576|597> overall <583|585> Charles: <583|9>. |
| Question 478: What is the difference between a shoemaker, who adds to the value of his leather by turning the leather into shoes, and a capitalist, who adds to the value of his money by investing it? |
| [584] Charles: Shoemaker and Investor. The difference between the shoemaker and the investor is the labor and the time. The shoemaker first would have to make a commodity by using his labor. His labor would add value to his original investment in the commodity. Now, the shoemaker has the option of selling his commodity at a higher price in order to make a profit. |
| The investor is mostly dependent on the time. All he does is to invest money in the market and after that he has to rely on time in order to withdraw more money from his investments. Marx's theory is that the investor is not contributing in order for his investment to grow. The value of the money for the investor is in motion, but for the shoemaker, it is not in motion. The value of the shoemaker's product is increased by his labor and not by time like the investor's money. |
| Hans: In a note to your [357], Ozz objected to the notion that time increases value. He is right. Time does not do anything. According to Marx, the investor's capital increases because the social relations in capitalism move value from the labor of the workers to the property of the capitalists. The investor only has to choose the right investments, and the social relations will do the rest. He think it is done by time, but in reality it is done by the social relations which force the workers to perform unpaid labor. |
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