1.
The means of production as the tools and resources needed to make something. This can include machines, factories, land, technology or even online platforms. In a restaurant, the kitchen, ovens, food ingredients, and the building itself are means of production. The restaurant owner usually owns these.
Labor is the actual work people do. It’s the physical or mental effort we use to create something. For example, in that same restaurant, the cooks preparing meals and the servers taking orders are performing labor. Without the workers, the kitchen equipment wouldn’t produce anything.
The value is not just how expensive something is. Value is determined by how much labor time it takes to produce something under normal conditions. So it’s about the average amount of time society needs to make that product.
Labor is what gives value to something. For example, think about a pair of sneakers. The materials alone don’t give it much value. The labor involved in designing, manufacturing, assembling, and transporting the sneakers adds value. That labor time is what makes the product valuable in Marx’s view.
3.
Labor and value are directly connected. Labor creates value. The more socially necessary labor time something requires, the more value it has. Workers are the ones producing that value through their work. This is important because even though workers create value, they don’t necessarily receive all of it.
For example, coffee beans by themselves aren’t worth much. But once workers harvest them, roast them, package them, and prepare them in a café, value is added at every step through labor.
This shows that workers are central to creating value in the economy.
4.
Labor is the actual act of working. Labor power, on the other hand, is our ability to work.
When we get a job, we aren’t selling the finished product ourselves. We are selling our labor power to an employer in exchange for wages. The employer then uses our labor power during the workday. That difference is important because in capitalism, labor power becomes something that is bought and sold.
Surplus value is basically profit. It’s the extra value that workers produce beyond what they are paid.
For example, a delivery driver works an 8 hour shift and generates $1,000 in revenue for the company that day. If the driver is paid $180 for the shift, the rest of the value goes to the company. That extra amount is surplus value which becomes profit.
This shows why there is tension between workers and owners. Workers create the value, but owners keep the surplus.
