How You're Being Exploited Under Capitalism

This video was made by the Marxist Literature Collective, an organisation which aims to educate as wide of an audience as possible on socialism, anti-imperialism and progressive issues, using a Marxist framework.

You can find us on Instagram, Discord, Twitter and Patreon using the links below.

[TheBeethooven]

01:53 killed me :DD

Great work al always, comrades!

[lenorha]

To be honest I'm REALLY happy that I've found a great marxist channel! It is especially good for people who aren't the best in english (including me), because you have a such a good way of speaking.

[benmcalaney]

Epic ninja fortnite fail compilation, cutr dog, funny cat, monkey gif meme, kids fun happy cool

[thomasmay]

sexy voice man seems like he's cool

[limitless]

Great video!
Thank you for explaining the concepts in a simple to understand way :)

[dantobarbarian]

But if the capitalists paid for the factory doesn't that make things sorta equal? The money they spent on the factory didn't come out of nothing.

[JS-bdpn]

Can you do a video on the theory of ground rent? I feel like I understand it but and a little fuzzy on the whole picture... thanks!

[AlexA-tyjo]

Guys, this is a great work! You need to put little more effort to promote your videos!

[JohnT.]

These short presentations are good. It will help the average person to better understand Marxism.

[belladonna]

"Let's say hypothetically!" I literally spit out my beer!!!

[Simboiss]

Well explained, very straightforward.

But what's the alternative? Mine is wage control via democracy. Since managers should be paid too, how much do we pay them? How much should we pay anyone in a non-market-price-driven system? I think it should be discussed and fixed by the democratic process.

[oliverwisemiller]

Well yeah you need employment to live. This is how it has been for all living organisms since the beginning of time. As a living being you burn energy, you need resources, or you die.

[philippe]

The concept of surplus value is in its core is wrong mainly because of the fact that Marxists are confusing labor with value. Let me explain…

The workers are given the tools and instructions to build the product. (Ex. A chair)
The worker is not going to implement a massage mechanism in the chair or even wings so that the chair can fly.

In other words, the worker is not increasing the value of the product. (Chair)
The worker is only making the product which in itself already has value determined by the supply and demand in the economical market.

The amount of money that is attributed to the worker is determined by the PRE-EXISTING VALUE of the service that he is providing (building the product).
Which is determined by other independent factors such as (how many ppl are able to perform that service, how many ppl are willing to perform that service, how much money are they willing to receive for that service, etc…)

The person who actually has to invest the money into the capital and the PRE-EXISTING service value that the workers are providing, is the OWNER of the means of production. (The capitalist).
And his job ( yes, he actually is a worker as well ) is to determine weather the invested value (workers, tools, land etc…) is lower than the cash inflow value (money going to the business).
In order to make a profit.

(AND YES, THOSE VALUES ARE INDEPENDENT FROM EACH OTHER)

But that is not as easy as it sounds, the owner has to more or less guess the value of the product based on some inaccurate market studies.
Which is risky ( the greater the risk the greater the profit).
And it’s only fair and moral that the person who holds the risk gets the profit.

[redmathwiz]

You didn't link the texts in the comments btw*

[Rawr_w]

I am new to marxism and i love this channel for its simple explanation. Keep up the great work comrades :)

[Pseudify]

The comments in this video prove how impoverished our education system has become. Do you realize that the typical profit margin on a restaurant is just a couple percent? That is, they are lucky to make 1 or 2 pennies on every dollar they spend. So the added value of your labor is minuscule. By the way, there’s nothing preventing you from leaving the capitalist system and starting your own enterprise in whatever form you want. But you will discover the hard way that capitalism is the easiest way for you to add value to your own life.

[laraibkhan]

Great video comrades.
Many people fail to understand that not being exploited is simply not possible under capitalism. When the people realise that this is the case, revolution would be the only logical solution.

[yohanj]

It is widely understood that the four basic economic resources are land, labor, capital, and entrepreneurship. The demand for labor can fluctuate due to various factors, including education, skills, experience, and productivity.

For instance, consider a scenario where the material cost of a product, such as a burger, is $50. When accounting for indirect costs like rent, machinery depreciation, and other overheads, the total cost may rise to $100. Additionally, the entrepreneur must factor in a risk premium for starting the business and an opportunity cost for their time, bringing the selling price to $130.

Some socialist perspectives may argue that employers are exploiting $80 of value by simply deducting fixed costs, overheads, and profit from the price. However, in my view, this is not accurate. The price of labor is determined by the supply and demand for that specific type of labor in the market. Calculating the appropriate profit margin for a business is complex, but without the incentive of profit, there would be no motivation for individuals to start businesses. This, in turn, would limit job creation and reduce the number of consumers able to purchase these products.

[micuu]

vage? I love that video but that's a pretty bad typo

[yuven]

hmm, the discord link doesnt add the server for me