Question 1

The means of production includes two wide types of objects: instruments of labor such as factories, machinery, equipment, tools, and infrastructure, and subjects of labor such as natural resources and raw materials. Workers operate on the subjects of labor using the instruments of labor to create a product; or stated another way; labor acting on the means of production creates a good. In an agricultural society the principal means of production is the soil and the shovel. In an industrial society the means of production become social means of production and include factories and mines. In knowledge economy, computers and networks are means of production. In a broad sense, the “means of production” also includes the “means of distribution” such as stores, the Internet and railroads.

Question 2

Value: The esteem that something is held to merit; the significance, cost, or usefulness of something.

Economic value is the value that person places on a monetary good based on the benefit that they stem from the good. It is often valued based on the person’s willingness to pay for the good, normally measured in units of cash.

Question 3

When two commodities trade for the same price if they represent the same labor hours and time or they exchange at a percentage fixed by the relative differences in the two labor times. To illustrate, lets say it takes 30 hours chasing a deer and 15 hours to trap a beaver the exchange proportion would therefore be two beavers for one deer. This is the concept of labor and value, where two commodities exchanged for certain relative prices on the market. The average number of labor hours necessary to hunt and or trap the animals determines the value of both.

Question 4

According to the Marxian concept labor power is a commodity whereas labor is not.

Labor is something humans have always done to produce the goods and services upon which life depends. Labor power is what a worker sells to an employer. The employer “consumes” the purchased labor power by setting its owner – the worker – to perform the laboring activity (to do labor) alongside/with tools, equipment, and raw materials. The worker is paid a wage in exchange for providing to the employer what he/she owns, namely his/her labor power for a set period of time. The goal of the employer in consuming the labor power he/she has purchased is the commodity emerging at the end of the process of production, a commodity whose value exceeds the combined value of (1) the used up tools, equipment and raw materials, plus (2) the value of the wage paid for the purchased labor power. That excess, surplus value, is the driving objective of a capitalist employer.

Question 5

Surplus labor as discussed gave clear understanding of what this entails. Labor performed in excess of the amount of labor that would be necessary to produce the means of livelihood of the worker. As explained “the worker must labor for longer than it takes to create a value equal to that of his or her daily requirement of the means of subsistence, known as necessary labor time, that is necessary to reproduce his or her labor power”.

Therefore, the workday as we know it is fixed 7.5 or 8 hours in most cases, rather than four- or 3.5-hours day. This surplus labor period allows for the capitalist to gain the needed means of production adding to the value of units that is transferred to the final product. The worker on the other hand is uncompensated for the additional labor hours beyond their earnings. The value of units added and transferred to the final product of surplus labor, is surplus value the result of capitalist exploitation.

1. Two key concepts in this video are the means of production and labor. In your comment, explain how you understand the means of production and labor. Give an example of each.

The means of production is the place that manufactures goods that’s for public use, like land. The means for labor is working with manpower to increase the value of the thing, for example, cooking. The eggs are cheap in their original egg form, but if we use it to make dishes, it would raise the value of the eggs.

2. Another important concept in understanding social class is value. Based on the ideas presented in Video 5.1, what is value?  What give “value” to value, what makes something valuable? 

Value is how much effort and time is wasted on the product. We can make something more valuable by wasting more time on it. On the other hand, machine-made products are usually cheaper than hand-crafted ones.

3. How are labor and value related? What’s the relationship/connection between the two?

There’s a positive relationship between labor and value, which means as more time of labor on a product, the value increases.

4. How do you understand the difference between labor and labor power? Hint: this is a key difference, give it your best shot based on what the video says about it, and your own ideas. We’ll clarify and develop it in our discussions, and in my video comments.

Labor is how people work on products for their lives, and labor power is what a worker sells to others.

5. Surplus Value: what is it? Why is it important to know about, in our study of social classes? Think about an example of surplus value?

Surplus Value is the portion of the wealth that a worker creates, but their owner gets it. It’s the profit of the owner, the worker only can get how much that their owner thinks they deserve.

1. Two key concepts in this video are the means of production and labor. In your comment, explain how you understand the means of production and labor. Give an example of each.
2. Another important concept in understanding social class is value. Based on the ideas presented in Video 5.1, what is value?  What give “value” to value, what makes something valuable? 
3. How are labor and value related? What’s the relationship/connection between the two?
4. How do you understand the difference between labor and labor power? Hint: this is a key difference, give it your best shot based on what the video says about it, and your own ideas. We’ll clarify and develop it in our discussions, and in my video comments.
5. Surplus Value: what is it? Why is it important to know about, in our study of social classes? Think about an example of surplus value?