1. Means of production include raw materials, For example, if I sell a chicken sandwich on the facebook marketplace, my means of production would include bread, chicken, butter, cheese, oven, cooking skills. If I want to sell my chicken sandwich online, I would need to use facebook marketplace, which is privately owned. This is called capitalist production. Labor is the general term for the basic human’s ability to do work that is useful for the society. Labor increases the value of what I have. For example, if I take those raw materials for my chicken sandwich and use my cooking skills to prepare my labor adds value to the ingredients. The result is a chicken sandwich which has a higher value than the individual raw materials.
  2. A value is measured by how much labor takes to produce under normal circumstances. Time gives value to value. Labor power makes something valuable.
  3. How are labor and value related? What’s the relationship/connection between the two?
  4. Labor and value are related in the production of a product. The value of the product is directly proportional to how much effort and labor are involved.
  5. Labor is the general term for the basic human’s ability to do work that is useful for the society. Labor power is exchanging one’s labor for money.
  6. Surplus value is the profit. It is important because the owner gets the profit, not the working class who puts their labor. For example, a factory worker is employed to assemble iphones. The value of the worker’s labor is determined by hourly wage. However, the iphones they produce is sold in the market for a much higher price than the cost of labor and raw materials.

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