- As we learned thus far, the capitalist class consists of people who own wealth, as well as the means of production in American society. An important question in understanding how this class works is to ask: how does a capitalist remain wealthy? The answer to this question depends largely on understanding the diagram M-C-M’. So, let’s practice by explaining what happens in this diagram in our own words (but basing our ideas on Reading 5.1). Respond to the following question: Explain M-C-M’ to show how capitalists maintain and increase their wealth.
In the article the M-C-M’ diagram explains how capitalists build their wealth. It starts with M, which stands for money. Capitalists use this money to buy C, or commodities, like labor and materials. Then, workers put in their effort to create finished products from those materials. When these products are sold, capitalists end up with M’, which is more money than they started with. This extra money, known as surplus value, is really important because it allows capitalists to reinvest, pay their workers, and grow their businesses. So, the whole process of turning money into goods and then back into even more money shows how capitalists keep getting richer over time..
