| This question <272|272> overall <86|88> Nogi: <34|231>. |
| Question 219: Why doesn't Marx go from the Simple form of value directly to the General form of value by letting everyone express their values in the same commodity? |
| [87] Nogi: The reason why Marx does not go from the Simple form of value to the General form directly is stated in 158:1. Marx says “The two previous forms only got as far as expressing the value of a commodity as something distinct from its own use-value or physical body”. Marx goes on to say in 158:2 that the first form produces equations like 1 coat = 20 yards of linen and 10 lbs of tea = 1/2 ton of iron. The values of the coat and tea are expressed in something like linen or iron. Marx says that this form only appears when products of labor are converted into commodities by accidental occasional exchanges. In 158:3 Marx says that the second form distinguishes the value of the commodity more completely from its own use value. Marx also says that the Expanded form of value comes into actual existence when a particular product of labor is habitually exchanged for various other commodities. |
| Hans: You repeat several things said by Marx, but only your last sentence has anything to do with the question asked: Marx goes from the Simple form of value to the Expanded form of value because the Expanded form of value occurs spontaneously when one main product, for instance cattle in a nomad society, is habitually exchanged for many other products. Only after this spontaneous development, which links all the exchanges in a society together, is it possible to come to an agreement that everybody should measure the value of their goods in one specific excluded commodity (gold). |
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