VALUE THEORY OF LABOUR

“Growth of productive capital and rise of wages, are they really, so indissolubly united as the bourgeois economists maintain? We must not believe their mere words. We dare not believe them even when they claim that the fatter capital is the more will its slave be pampered.”
― Karl Marx, Wage-Labour and Capital & Value, Price and Profit

“But capital not only lives upon labor. Like a master, at once distinguished and barbarous, it drags with it into its grave the corpses of its slaves, whole hecatombs of workers, who perish in the crises.”
― Karl Marx, Wage-Labour and Capital & Value, Price and Profit

These two quotes that I have taken from Marx's Writings, when I read this book "Wage Labour and Capital" for the first time, I was in my second year of Graduation, I felt both as what Archimedes would have felt and what Bhagat Singh would have felt. That is both excited and angry. I was excited at the brilliance of this man's analysis and angry at the injustice that Capitalist system presents us with and how we are told to celebrate it like a freedom giver.  

This new topic named, "Value theory of Labour" came to me when I was debating about "Labour theory of Value" with my Friends. And I realized, these people, my friends, just debate on the basis of their naive common sense. They know Marx only through some Political theory textbook or some exam notes. I wonder, if they ever read "Wages-Labour and Capital", one of the best works of him. 

I wonder if they ever saw the brilliance that Marxian economics has. I think most people remain apprehended of Marx because of his stature as a revolutionary. But in reality, Marxian economics is much more real than the so called 101 Economics course of blind demand and supply and the myths like an invisible hand, you read about. 

Anyone reading this, I urge you to read Marx, especially his economics. The genius lies there. He is a B+ Sociologist, And "A" Political scientist, but an A+ Economist. 

Coming to the concept, Labour theory of value is not Marxian, first of all. It was given by social contractarians. Locke is credited with this. It is simple, value of a commodity is determined by how much labor is done on it. 

To say that Capitalist economics runs on this is a lie or an ignorant statement. It runs on petty concepts of demand and supply. And since there is nothing concrete about market demand. It can just artificially be constructed through a gossip, The whole value system of commodities in capitalism comes in thin air and vanishes in thin air. 

I say, Capitalist economics, be it any form, the earlier Mercantilism, or late-stage Neo-liberalism, it runs on what I call, "The Value theory of Labour". 

Any Bourgeois apologist you meet, they will tell you one stupid superstition, That Entrepreneur does labor too, and he gets outcome of his labor. Then they accuse communists and socialists to be people who do not recognize Mental labor. The thing is, first of all, We do not. Physical and mental labor are different. But never ever a single communist has written that Mental labor is not labor. These idiots make gossips in their heads and put it in our mouths. 

Secondly, since Mental and Physical labor are different, we say, they are needed to be treated like exchange rates. Like, Ok, Entrepreneur's work is recognized as profits and Labour's as wages. But, what is, then the exchange rate between Wages to profit. Ever saw that data? 

This is the fucked up Economic system that we are talking about. The gap of this exchange rate between Physical and mental labor is so big. Profit grows at a rate of 22.3% and these are excluding inflation. Do you know how much Wages grew? 

2.7%. Yes! this is what we are saying. We recognize entrepreneurship as labor. The problem is you do not recognize the most important constituent of production process, labor. You discriminate between Labour and Labour. 

And if you are in a delusion that this is the case of distinction between Physical and mental labour, you are mistaken. Imagine being a manager in a factory, Aren't you taking decisions? Aren't you doing Mental labor? But you too, get a wage and not shares of Profit. 

So, the distinction here is not of Physical labour and mental labour. It is between Entrepreneur's labour and other people's labour. 

Other people's labour gives them wages grow like peanuts and Entrepreneurs' profits grow like bamboo shoots. This is the problem of this. 

Growth of Outcome of Mental labour (Of a specific kind, not all) = 100 times Growth of outcome of all other kinds of Labour 

 Let me expand more. Why exactly is the system like this? Ever asked? Because Capitalism makes a fool out of you. 

It says that it rewards risk taking ability and labour both, and it considers mental labour above physical labour, but in reality, it values only Capital. Entrepreneur's labour is treated differently because he already has capital. Which is contradictory to the basic premise of production, that is Labour theory of value. 

If labour is that thing which creates value, Why is Capital treated more than labour. Why labour is so volatile that with a sudden demand and supply shock, the labour is forced to die, while the capitalist survives every shock, his company might suffer, but he lives. Because he already has capital in his clutches. 

Capitalism works on "Capital theory of value" or what I choose to call it, "Value theory of Labour". 

Value theory of labour meaning, we already assign values to different labors, based on the capital that the labour harbors. Since, the employee, the Laborer comes with no capital, he has only his labour to contribute, his labour has no value while Entrepreneur comes with capital backed little labor and hence, he is valued. 

His earnings are because of this pre-decided value of Capital, which fetches him Profit. Capital gets him interest which he invests back in capital to maintain it, while profit he consumes. This profit does not come from thin air but is product of labour. 

What makes a commodity is labour. Even if you have to drink water from a river, you need to make a cup from your hands, or your hands like a cup and try to fill water in it, this is labour. 

Natural resources become commodities just because of Labour. So, the commodity value all that it has is because of labour. And labour is forced to survive of wages, which grows by 1-2 percent a year. 

Since there is this growth rate disparity, the capital grows like a big tumor in the brain of the economic system, the profits go in growth of this tumor, whereas all other body parts become malnourished. And one day, the tumor bursts and goes all to waste, since the body parts do not even have that much energy to carry the tumor any further. The tumor dies and dies with it the whole human, here in this case, the economic system. And with this, die millions of people who just thought that they can survive on wages, they trusted the tumor to be the greatest invention of modernity, but it was the most deceptive sweet poison man has ever invented.