tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28755195.post4319688057969536375..comments2023-09-25T04:26:51.568-06:00Comments on The Barefoot Bum: Labor and labor powerLarry Hamelinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08788697573946266404noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28755195.post-8302185077593560772012-07-26T05:19:09.050-06:002012-07-26T05:19:09.050-06:00It's not a trivial concept. It escaped Adam Sm...It's not a trivial concept. It escaped Adam Smith and David Ricardo, both very intelligent men.Larry Hamelinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08788697573946266404noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28755195.post-84709449693578401092012-07-25T17:03:52.890-06:002012-07-25T17:03:52.890-06:00Ok, I understand now. Thanks for explaining.Ok, I understand now. Thanks for explaining.theObservernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28755195.post-75272176734219214632012-07-24T05:20:53.854-06:002012-07-24T05:20:53.854-06:00Let me give you an example.
Assume it takes, on a...Let me give you an example.<br /><br />Assume it takes, on average, 3 hours of labor per day to provide for my food, clothing, housing, transportation, education, etc. as well as pay for my share of raising the average number of children per worker. This is the cost of living, a.k.a. the cost of labor power.<br /><br />When those 3 hours are expended, and I consume the results, I am capable of performing 8 hours of labor. In other words, 3 hours of labor expended give me the power to perform 8 hours of labor. The difference, 5 hours, is the surplus value of labor.<br /><br />Capitalism forces me to sell the power to perform labor, which has a cost of 3 hours, not the labor itself, which is worth 8 hours. Thus the capitalist can expropriate up to 5 hours of my own labor.Larry Hamelinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08788697573946266404noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28755195.post-16871049283164507422012-07-23T18:04:34.895-06:002012-07-23T18:04:34.895-06:00Thanks for explaining Larry. I understand a little...Thanks for explaining Larry. I understand a little more now but it still hasn't quite clicked into place. <br /><br />"In a capitalist economy, workers produce and exchange a particular commodity. But they are not producing and exchanging their labor directly as a commodity. They are, rather, producing and exchanging their ability to perform labor, what Marx labeled their labor power. There's a real difference between these two things. The cost of labor itself is the labor itself; labor is the cost.. But the cost of labor power is the cost of living, which is substantially less than the number of hours of labor that cost of living makes available."<br /><br />The cost of labor power is the cost of living. So I'm reading the final sentence as 'the cost of living is less than the number of labor hours that cost of living makes available.' <br /><br />It's the words "number of hours of labor that the cost of living makes available" that are confusing me. Does it mean the hours of labor that are left after the cost of living is met ?theObservernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28755195.post-75364413516423261432012-07-22T04:45:50.619-06:002012-07-22T04:45:50.619-06:00This is a nontrivial issue, so please feel free to...This is a nontrivial issue, so please feel free to ask additional questions.Larry Hamelinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08788697573946266404noreply@blogger.com