Nature of Capitalism
Markets, money,
and labor
Commodities - the
ÒcellÓ of capitalist society
Use value and
Exchange value
Value: amount of
socially necessary labor time embodied in a commodity
Labor Theory of
Value and the "Fetishism of Commodities"
Formula for Capitalism
Simple commodity
production
C --- M --- C
Merchant
capitalism
M --- C --- MÕ
MÕ - M = ÆM =
profit
Capitalist Production
M --- C1 + C2
-> CÕ --- MÕ
M --- C1 + C2 -> CÕ
--- MÕ
M = money
C1 = means of
production
C2 = labor power
CÕ = finished
production
MÕ = money (at
end)
MÕ - M = ÆM =
profit
M --- C1 + C2 -> CÕ
--- MÕ
Profit motive in
capitalism
Source of profit
& surplus value
unemployment
Overproduction and
crises
Fictitious
commodities: land and eco-destruction
Fictitious
commodities: labor and alienation
Accumulation
Primitive
accumulation
Class nature of
capitalism
Class struggle
--> Socialism
M --- C1 + C2 -> CÕ
--- MÕ
M --- C1 + C2
-> CÕ --- MÕ
$200 --- $100 +
$100 -> [200 @$1.50] --- $300
Hula hoops take
one hour to make, plus $.50 for raw materials = $1.50
Hires 5 workers @
$20 per week
Each worker works
40 hours per week
Total hula hoops:
200 @ $1.50
Class nature of
capitalism
Bourgeoisie
(capitalists) and Proletarians (workers)
Intermediate
classes and gradations within classes
Empirical class
structure
Class struggle -->
Socialism
Early class
struggles
Paris Commune of
1871
Russian Revolution
of 1917 and the USSR
Chinese Revolution
of 1949
World
Revolutionary Process 1917-1991
Struggle against
WTO and war
WTO
After WWII, U.S.
established institutions for military & financial control of the world
Military: CIA and
nuclear weapons
Financial: World
Bank, IMF, GATT -> WTO, the World Trade Organization
Critique of and
Resistance to WTO
Not ÒFree TradeÓ
but forced trade
Benefits
corporations, at the expense of labor, human rights, and the environment
Non-democratic
ÒConstitution of
the World EconomyÓ