Reading Marx’s Das Kapital Be Like

Dont worry we all start somewhere! #revolution #revolutionary #karlmarx

[Douli]

Some of these words include “commodity” “value” and “the”

[kitiea]

Rightists when they pick up The Communist Manifesto or Das Kapital and think they're a genius who can debunk Marx because they read one book:

[thastayapongsak]

Linen and coat. I know what those are.

[wissen]

Karl Marx's work is based on two axioms:

Value is exchangeable.
Machines add no value to labor.
From this, he concludes that an increase in labor increases profits.

Criticism of Marx's Axioms:
Value is not exchangeable – Value is tied to our perception, similar to how beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Use value determines the exchange rate or price. There is no intrinsic "exchange value."

The assumption that machines add no value is false – Marx's mistake lies in conflating time and labor. Since labor, according to him, is "bound" to value, a reduction in labor time should also reduce value, offsetting the cost reduction achieved by increased efficiency. However, reducing costs does not make a given unit less valuable to the market.

If the market is willing to pay 10g of gold for five units of wood, it does not care whether those units were produced at a cost of 10g or 5g. Value comes from the consumer, not from the labor input. Since the value remains unchanged, logically, reducing production costs means more value has been created. Intuitively, we know this to be true, as we constantly build machines to save time.

The resources saved through innovation can now be used in two ways:
A) For personal consumption, which does not add wealth to the nation.
B) For investment in innovation and infrastructure.

Profits can therefore be logically reinvested to expand production or fund research. This creates far more value for society than mere consumption. 300 years of capitalism have proven this point.

To summarize:
Investment → Innovation → Additional Production → Wealth of a Nation.

This is why I believe I have clearly demonstrated that Marx was wrong and why no one in the field of economics takes him seriously anymore.

[lesteubes-rt]

Marx never worked a day in his life, but instead lived off his mother, inheritances, and gifts of money from his friend Fredrich Engels. He had servants who he exploited by often not paying their wages (knowing full well they needed a roof over his head). One of his servants had a child by him (it is unclear how much choice she had in the conception…).
Few people knew less about work, economics and capital than Karl Marx.