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Is Capitalism Inherently Informative?

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Many people today believe that the current capitalist system we live in is purely exploitative. Yet is this truly the case? Capitalism is an economic system in which all natural resources and the means of production are privately owned (Merriam-webster.com, 2017). Exploitation is the act of treating someone unfairly in order to profit from their work. It can also be defined as the act of using and benefiting from resources, for example environmental resources. (Oxford Dictionaries | English, 2017). The fundamental principles of capitalism will be focused on in this essay. They will be used to determine whether or not capitalism is inherently exploitative. Exploitation will also be looked at, not just in terms of the worker, but also natural …show more content…

Marx illustrates (1867 pp. 27-30) that commodities are the basic units of capitalism. Commodities are goods or services that are produced by human labour and put up for general sale in the market as a product (Marx, 1867 p. 38). Their prices are determined by supply and demand (Merriam-webster.com, 2017). Weeks argues, in ‘Capital and Exploitation’, (1981 p.40) that when labour is monetized, as it is under the capitalist system, labour power itself becomes a commodity. Labour power also adds value to a commodity (Marx, 1867 pp. 35-37). In capitalism, labour power is the only means of production owned by the working class. Capitalists own all other means of production. Capitalists need labour power to produce other commodities. Labour can therefore be exchanged for money at a certain ratio. This, argues Marx and Engels (1992), forms the foundation of the relationship between the capitalists and the working class. Marx believes that the value of any commodity directly correlates to the amount of labour time that goes into it. This is Marx’s Law of Value (Marx as cited by Weeks, 1981 p. …show more content…

30). Wage labour is employment for a designated weekly or monthly wage, normally under stipulations decided by the employer (A Dictionary of Sociology, 2016). Weeks argues (1981 p.40) that the labour power of wage labourers is exploited by capitalists under Marx’s Law of Value, or as he calls it, the Law of Surplus Value. Exploitation occurs when wage workers work for longer than it takes to make commodities (Marx 1867 pp. 132-138). Surplus value is the difference between the value added by the wage labourer to a commodity and the value of their labour power (Saad-Filho and Morais, 2012 p.35). It creates profit. The capitalist, to make profits, sets the working day at a certain length. Some of the day is consumed by producing value that sustains the workers basic needs. The remainder generates surplus value, taken by the capitalist (Marx, 1867 pp.132-138). Marx (1867 pp. 132-138) argues that this is inevitable exploitation in

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