Question

Define class in the Marxist sense. Define surplus value. Explain how surplus value is extracted under capitalism. Explain which class produces surplus value and which class appropriates surplus value. Provide a contemporary example of extraction and appropriation of surplus value. (Max 300 words)

Answer 1

Karl Marx is regarded as the father of scientific socialism. He wrote his famous boom Das Kapital in 1867 which is considered as the bible of socialism.

He regards that all historical events are the result of continuous economic struggle between different classes and groups in the society. The main cause of this struggle is the conflict between the mode of production and the relation of production. The mode of production refers to the particular arrangements of production in a society while the relation of production refers to the class structure. The two main classes or economic forces in capitalism are bourgeoisies or capitalist and proletariat or the labour class. The capitalist owns all the factors of production but the labour class only earns their labour power. The capitalist used the means of production to exploit the working class. The proletariat on the other hand owns only their labour power. As they have no means of production in their custody to earn livelihood they have to surrender their labour power to the capitalist which they use to exploit the working class. The workers get a wage but the capitalist get profit by appropriating the surplus value created by the working class.

The surplus value is the difference between the exchange value of a commodity and the wage paid to the workers. Marx propounded the theory surplus value on the basis of his theory of value. In capitalism the workers are not given a wage equal to the value they produce. They are given a wage which is far less than the value created by them. For example if the production of a commodity requires 10 hours labour power. In the process of production workers are not paid a wage equal to 10 hours but will be paid a wage equal to the 2 hours which is equal to the bare subsistence of the labour. The surplus of production over the cost is appropriated by the capitalist. Marks characterize this appropriation of the surplus value as robbery or unscrupulous exploitation.

The capitalist uses this surplus value for further capital accumulation leaving the proletariat in ridiculous endless poverty.

The surplus value leads to the capital accumulation and the class struggle is only the outcome of this accumulation of capital in the hands of a few capitalist. In the course of capitalist development the capitalist’s main motive is to increase the surplus value which swells his profit. He tries to maximize his profit in three ways. 1. Increasing the working hours, 2. Diminishing the working hours to save the cost on labour power (decreasing the wage rate) and increasing the productivity of workers. Of these three methods increase in the productivity of labour is the best choice because the other two methods have limitations of their own. Thus the capitalist will resort to labour saving devices which will further deteriorating the living condition of the working class. The increased deterioration of the working class will leads to the war between the capitalist and worker.