Theory Notes
9/6/2012
Marx contradiction 1- The Heart of Capitalism
- Relationship between workers & capitalists who own the factories & other means of production o Capitalists workers (to make a profit) = Profit But workers also want to keep some of the profit
Force small businesses out of business>>>>> become workers of capitalists
- Ex. Wal-Mart vs. local businesses
- Capitalist exploit workers more and more to make a profit
As capitalism expands, the number of workers as well as the degree of exploitation rises.
- *Social change MUST happen to resolve this contradiction o More exploitation and oppression>>>> more resistance from workers>>>>CONFLICT
Human Nature
- Contradiction between human nature & the way we must work in a capitalist society
- Marx=Capitalism sucks!
- But Labor is Beautiful
- Objectification- process where we create external objects from our internal thought
- Labor is material ( we want material things and labor is the way to get them)
- Labor is Transformative ( it changes you, for the better)
Marx on Labor
- Labor is simultaneously o 1. The objectification of our purpose o 2. The establishment of an essential relation between human need & the matrial objects of out need o 3. The transformation of our human nature
Power & Potential
- Social o Transforms the individual, thus transforming society
Alienation >>> Labor >>>> human nature
- The relationship between labor and the individual is perverted by capitalism worker do not see labor as an expression of their own purpose, instead we labor in accordance w/ the capitalist who hires and pays us
- Labor in capitalism is reduced to a mean to an end- earning $
- Sociological basis of alienation o Two class producing system
 Capitalist employ WORKERS ( labor time)
• Own means of production (factories, tools, etc) o Own ulitimate products
- In order to survive workers are forced to sell their labor time to the capitalists
4 components of alienation
- 1.Worker in a capitalistic society are alienated from their own productive value o Work is boring a demeaning o Enough money to get by
- 2.Alienated not only from productive activities but also from the product
- 3. Alienated from their fellow workers o People like to work together as a community
- 4. Worker in capitalist system are alienated from their own human potential o Our workplace is where we feel least human
Human Nature and Capitalism DON’T MESH
- It can only be resolved by social change
Capitalism >>> System of POWER; political power>>>>economic relations
- Economic system in which a great number of workers produce commodities for the profit of a small # of capitalists who own the following: o 1. The commodities o 2. The means of producing the commodities o 3. The labor time of the workers, purchased via wages
- It is also a political system that exercises power and exploits workers at the same damn time
Commodities
- The products of labor intended primarily for exchange o Use value >>>>intiamate needs of the individuals & those around them o In capitalism: exchange value>>>>>
Society that is dominated by objects whose main value is exchange produces certain categories of people
- 1. Proletariat
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- Bourgeoisie o Proletariat- Workers who sell their labor & do not own the means of production
 Proletariats will lose their skills
 Proletariats are Consumers
Capital
- Capitalists>>pays the wages
- Capital- money that makes more money o It’s a continuum of money making
- It is also a social relationship
- Capitalists cannot rise their capital unless they exploit the labor of those who actually do the work
- The capitalist system is the social structure that emerges on the basis of the capitalists’ exploitation of workers
Exploitation
- Necessary part of capitalism system
- Exploitation is an accomplished through the economic system workers are coerced through threat