The diagram M–C–M’ explains how capitalists maintain and increase their wealth under capitalism. M stands for money, which the capitalist starts with. That money is used to buy C, or commodities, which includes things like raw materials, machines, and especially labor power. Workers then use the means of production to create goods or services. These goods are sold on the market for M’, which is more money than the capitalist started with. This extra money comes from the surplus value meaning workers produce more value than what they are paid for in wages. By repeating this cycle over and over, capitalists are able to keep growing their wealth without doing the labor themselves.