What “Capitalism” Is and How It Affects People
Capitalism is a system of production in which the wealth generated is shared within a few individuals or one. The system allows for private ownership of the production where the capitalist purchases labor at a squat price and uses the labor to generate enormous wealth. The profits acquired from the production exercise is not shared correspondingly, rather, the owners take the huge chunk off to themselves while the actual laborers only receive a tiny bit, regardless of the magnitude of the effort.
The ideology of capitalism spills over to the actual labor itself. Here, labor is classified into sets. The categories being skilled and unskilled labor. It is a complicated scenario where the skilled labor, consist of professionals who are paid differently and treated differently from their counterparts, unskilled labor. In reality, those working in the skilled labor sector form a very trivial percentage when contrasted with the unskilled labor. In addition, unskilled labor most often deals with activities that require more muscular exertion and poses more risk.
Surplus Labor Appropriation in Capitalism
KarlMarx uses the concepts of surplus labor to critique political systems. Surplus labor, according to Karl Marx, is the provision of excess labor than is required to achieve the expected output by the industrialist. The labor utilized is more than is supposed to be delivered. Yet the wage paid does not include the surplus. The entrepreneur buys work control with a definiteobjective of utilizing it. In this sense, the control of work being work itself. The capitalist sets its vendor to work, to produce something useful, a product worth of the input. All the way through the work, the capitalist is in control of the set up. The workers are set to design a predesigned model, in line with the expected result.
Labor is a union between man and nature. A combination of the natural forces within the body and the response of body parts to the forces on the external environment. The labor supplied must satisfy the set criteria; use-value and time. During production or manufacturing process, the labor supplied from the initial stages must be linked with the expected product of the labor. This is independent of the number of phases that the outcome has to undergo before it eventually meet the predefined use-value. For instance, the processing of yarn from cotton, the procedure requires embodiment in the use-value of yarn in spite of the disparities during processing. As the laborer toils, time moves and the work is unceasingly undergoing a series of transformations.
The labor shifts from its combination of normal forces with the body in motion into a stationary product. At the end of the creation epoch, the object being produced is regarded as the product of the labor. The tallies of the amount of time spent on the labor is supposed to be measured in terms of the output. If one hour produces say a value of y, then in seven hours, the value of labor should be equivalent to 7 by y, whose value is 7y. During the sale of the product, the amount payable to the laborer for their labor should be equivalent to the market prices. If for instance, the market value is five dollars for one hour’s activity, then for each hour spent by the laborer working, an equivalent should be reflected in their pay slip.
The application of the previous values yield no surplus returns to the capitalist. The amount invested in the product creation and sale equals the returns. Just like in the case of a car; the amount of money spent in its acquisition should be standard. This is to mean that whether the person buys each part of the car separately and pays for labor to assemble the car or purchases a brand new car directly from the manufacturer, there should be no deviations. The value of the car should be maintained. With such an arrangement, the capitalist finds no reason for investment. The perception is that the labor offered by the worker, does not match the revenue received.
The labor offered is however, equivalent to the product. When an investment of say ten dollars is made, the laborer is expected to produce an object worth the ten dollars over the specified timeframe. However, for a capitalist, the reason for investment in a production is to raise more money, not maintain the original value. Thus, the activity loses its value, and is rendered a waste of time.
Therefore, for the capitalist to achieve their intended objectives, which is to make more money,they have utilize surplus labor. The capitalist therefore determines the exchange value and the labor value. The magnitude of labor supplied to achieve the final product is not equated to the use-value of the labor, rather determined by the capitalist. This is in bid to utilize the surplus labor to pay off all production costs as well as the labor itself and secure the remainder of the income as profit. With this new set of the arrangement, the capitalist is able to make profit, thus makes production a beneficial investment.
Question Seven
Karl Marx is a communist who believes in the equality of individuals based in any given society. This equality came about in all the possible sphere of life. This is in regard to the communist perception of economic ability of the society and its members. However, the variance in terms of individual input and role played during production sparkled the need for a more in depth examination. For instance, when dealing with the pedagogy of classes in in the society caused by the inherent contradictions.
Analysis of his theory revealed the possibility of a class existing within a society fairly without abuse. He suggested labor to be paid in equal measure with the sale of products of labor. He proposed a communist system where classes can enjoy positions of priority without becoming an essence. Karl Marx described social class as a group of individuals within the setting of a society performing related tasks in production. The tasks could be similar or just closely related. Such a group has its members identical to each other due to the unifying tasks performed. Marx states that the classes arise due to economic differentiation.
How a class can enjoy a position of priority in a society
The conflict between the proletariats and Bourgeoisie is a continuous battle for supremacy which never ceases. The proletariats are the laborers whose worth in the society is measured by their ability to deliver labor. They form the wage earning class, and are entirely dependent on the production bosses who determine what pay they get. The conflict is continuous because as the laborers strive to minimize the gap between them and the rich who are also fighting to widen the gap. The rich are the investors, the owners of capital. It is from the investment of the capital that the owners expect to make profit, surplus revenue.
In his discussion of sociology, Karl Max describes the conflicts between the classes, which is perhaps his greatest contribution in the field. The concept however, is one that has seen the ages move without transition. He states that class is the main feature of the capitalistic societies. In capitalistic cultures, there exists the very poor and the extremely rich.
In his theory of social classes, Marx identifies three divergent members of the various classes. The three classes include; land owners, capitalists, and wage earners. The land owners benefit or thrive on the rent paid to them by the capitalists for use of their land. The Bourgeoisie are the owners of capital, they are the investors who control the whole process of production. They earn from the income from the sale of the products of production. The wage earners are the laborers whose survival is reliant on the magnitude of labor they can offer to the capitalists. They are at the lowest level of the hierarchy. However, the society can easily be categorized into two major classes; the opulent and the unfortunate.
The different classes exists in virtual harmony within themselves. This is because of the shared roles. The mannerism of a wage earner when relating to a capitalist is similar to another laborer, the disparities are negligible. Similarly, how a Bourgeoisie relates to a fellow capitalist is different from how they would relate to other members of different classes. The classes are governed by what Marx called class consciousness. The members of a particular class always act based on the best interest of their respective classes.
Within the classes, there exists competition. To manage the intense competition for supremacy, a wider gap is created. The wealth accumulators are in competition with each other and with the working class. The competition leads to dynamic transition in other areas of production. For example, a production firm can decide to lay off some workers due to mechanization of labor to maximize on profit. This way, the working class lose their jobs and become even poorer than before. The dependency within the society rises thereby lowering its economic advancement. Thus, the gap between the classes widens.
Marx proposes a system of proletarian revolution as way of ensuring a class enjoys priority without become an essence. The revolution is to empower the poor in the society to gang up against the rich. When the peasants who are the majority in the society take up on the rich because of discontent, they can gain subjugation of the capitalists.
This ideology results into a classless society. A society without class implies that no class will be of any essence to the theory of society. The proletariats would enjoy dominance hence equal share of their sweat. When the working class have a say in the labor offered, they can improve their living standards. This way, a society will be based on equivalence of labor value versus product value. A new society of will be generated. In the new society, classes can develop based on the magnitude of labor offered. The classes will be more personalized and many people can get to grow rather than the scanty rich who control the production.
