• nekbardrun@lemmy.world
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    9 hours ago

    Costs and prices are an attempt to measure units of work (Not Joules, to be pedantic, but job-type work).

    The models M-C-M and C-M-C explain clearly and simply how capitalists steal job-value from others (doing M-C-M) and how workers get poorer and poorer (edit: doing C-M-C)

    https://www.newappsblog.com/2017/10/c-m-c-m-c-m-and-marxs-understanding-of-power.html

    Thins is one among many resumes around this topic treated in The Capital from Karl Marx.

    • Zagorath@aussie.zone
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      19 hours ago

      No, I understand that capitalists exploit labour for profit. I’m not disputing that. I’m disputing the nonsensical claim that profit always comes by exploiting workers, and that in a non-capitalist system there would be no such thing as profit.

      • nekbardrun@lemmy.world
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        9 hours ago

        I’m actually interested in your reason on why the claim that “profit always comes by exploiting workers” is nonsensical.

        First, to clear up, I understood that you meant that “capitalism can (sometimes) profit without exploiting workers”

        And I also want to make clear that I agree with Marx claims about labor is what have value (that later is codified as money or as profit).

        If you could provide an example where there is profit without exploitation of worker, I think that would help clarify.

         

        Again, and to make clear, I’m just interested in getting a clear picture on why you claim that.

        • Zagorath@aussie.zone
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          8 hours ago

          First, to clear up, I understood that you meant that “capitalism can (sometimes) profit without exploiting workers”

          So to be clear, I absolutely was not saying that. Almost by definition, capitalism requires exploitation. I’m not sure I agree with the Marxist point of view of the labour theory of value that labour is the only thing that provides value (because it seems obvious to me that capital does provide value—I think there was a great video from Unlearning Economics on the subject), but I do agree that when workers don’t own the capital, their labour is going to be exploited and the surplus value extracted.

          If you could provide an example where there is profit without exploitation of worker

          Because of the example I described earlier. I could run a business consisting only of myself, and still theoretically have a profitable business.

          By extension, it should be possible (maybe in a worker-owned co-op) for multiple workers to work in a business which is also profitable. Maybe they decide to spend that profit on bonuses for each other; maybe they invest it back into the business by buying more capital to make themselves more efficient. Maybe something else. But the point is that workers don’t have to be exploited for profit to exist.