Karl Marx - Exchange Value, Labour Power, Surplus Value

A recap of several old videos of mine. I got questions from youtube users about surplus value - the result of exploitation in capitalism - and how it relates to exploitation, unpaid labour, in slave-owning societies and feudalism. To get the full answer, what you should also do, is watch my video with "The German Ideology" by Marx and Engels, somewhere from the 8:00 minute on...

Sorry about the cuts. I had recorded so much more, but had to trim it to a manageable size video. :)

[Milverton]

I recently finished David Harvey's course on Capital vol.1. This was an excellent consise explanation of Marx's theory of surplus value. Thank you for taking the time to make this video.

[yermongo]

You provide a wonderful service with this channel. Thank you very much for doing so.

[InvincibleNumanist]

This was actually quite easy to understand, I've always found this a difficult topic to discuss.
The thing is about Marxs Capital at least Volume 1, is that the first 3 chapters are the hardest to understand because they deal with this very issue. the rest is much easier to remember.

[niriop]

Very nice overview. It's one of those things that is simple to understand, but hard to grasp, if you know what I mean. I really need to re-read the Manifesto and read Das Kapital properly rather than just skipping to the odd point.

[herpiethelovebug]

Dew, are you familiar with the work of Jacque Fresco and the Venus Project?

[InvincibleNumanist]

@dewinthemorning
out of interest, what do you make of the transformation problem?

[bajskorvaren]

You got two very nice capital tools there, go invest it at the street corner for some surplus value

[jamespowell]

no they don't - the stick remains a stick - it maybe used but hardly a tool

[LucisFerre]

The labor theory of value is now considered defunct by every modern non-crack-pot economist. Subjective theory of value is now the thing.

John Doe's labor is worth less to him than it's worth to the BZ company, because BZ has capital equipment, etc, to utilize the labor efficiently. Mr. Doe & BZ negotiate wages ("W") agreeable to both. To Mr. Doe, his labor is worth less than W or he wouldn't trade it, & his labor is worth less than W to BZ or they wouldn't pay W. No exploitation required.

[LucisFerre]

Whoops, make that Mr. Doe's labor is worth MORE than W to BZ, or BZ would't pay Mr. Doe W for his labor. It's no more exploitation than when I buy a soda for 80 cents. The soda is worth more to me than my 80 cents, to me, or I wouldn't trade. And the 80 cents is worth more than the surplus soda to PepsiCo, or they wouldn't trade either. Win-win is not "exploitation".