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| Marx and the Labor Theory of Value |
Death
to Karl Marx. Well, just couldn't happen anymore. Mr. Marx has been
dead for so long. But the socialism doctrines he espoused are well and
alive today. One thing in particular is the Labor Theory of Value (LTV).
Labor Theory of Value, as opposed to Subjective Theory of Value, tells that the value of any commodity depends only on the amount of effort or labor employed in the production or preparation of the commodity. Of course, the amount and cost of raw materials and machinery is accounted as necessary contributor to the value of the commodity produced. This doesn't contradict Marx theory at all since the raw materials and the machinery must have undergone through some prior labor, the same nature of labor he was talking in the theory itself. In this sense, the labor done is to be taken as the sole contributor to the value of the commodity produced. At least this how Marx tried to explain it.
Labor Theory of Value, as opposed to Subjective Theory of Value, tells that the value of any commodity depends only on the amount of effort or labor employed in the production or preparation of the commodity. Of course, the amount and cost of raw materials and machinery is accounted as necessary contributor to the value of the commodity produced. This doesn't contradict Marx theory at all since the raw materials and the machinery must have undergone through some prior labor, the same nature of labor he was talking in the theory itself. In this sense, the labor done is to be taken as the sole contributor to the value of the commodity produced. At least this how Marx tried to explain it.
An
apple drops from its tree. According to LTV, the apple only starts to
accumulate value the moment an apple-picker walks to it and picks it up.
Picking up an apple contains an effort or labor thus adding a value to
it. Based on LTV, same thing is true for all commodities produced.
Which brings me to the question: If the value of commodity only depends on the labor that produced or prepared it, where does labor gets its value from? Marx also answered it. Labor must be treated like any other commodity produced. Meaning, labor did not exists on its own. It has undergone some accumulation of value like the effort to learn, practice and its maintenance. Marx called it the value of labor. So, the value of a commodity depends on the value of the labor, a labor which was also dependent on past efforts to acquire it. In Marx's term, the value of labor is to be appropriately called the value of laboring power. "The value of labouring power is determined by the value of the necessaries required to produce, develop, maintain, and perpetuate the labouring power" was the exact word of Marx.
I want to re-state Labor Theory of Value in this way: The value of commodity depends on the value of the labor or the value of the laboring power, a value which is necessarily dependent to the past value of efforts to come-up with such laboring skill.
Aha! There it goes. Something is amiss with LTV, isn't it? I think that is the big problem for LTV. If we keep digging further, with the goal to locate the root from where all value of goods could originate, it will take us to the forever beginning of all things Perhaps as primitive as the time when the snake labored his way to the garden and enticed Eve to eat the forbidden fruit. Or maybe infinitely earlier than anything.
Which brings me to the question: If the value of commodity only depends on the labor that produced or prepared it, where does labor gets its value from? Marx also answered it. Labor must be treated like any other commodity produced. Meaning, labor did not exists on its own. It has undergone some accumulation of value like the effort to learn, practice and its maintenance. Marx called it the value of labor. So, the value of a commodity depends on the value of the labor, a labor which was also dependent on past efforts to acquire it. In Marx's term, the value of labor is to be appropriately called the value of laboring power. "The value of labouring power is determined by the value of the necessaries required to produce, develop, maintain, and perpetuate the labouring power" was the exact word of Marx.
I want to re-state Labor Theory of Value in this way: The value of commodity depends on the value of the labor or the value of the laboring power, a value which is necessarily dependent to the past value of efforts to come-up with such laboring skill.
Aha! There it goes. Something is amiss with LTV, isn't it? I think that is the big problem for LTV. If we keep digging further, with the goal to locate the root from where all value of goods could originate, it will take us to the forever beginning of all things Perhaps as primitive as the time when the snake labored his way to the garden and enticed Eve to eat the forbidden fruit. Or maybe infinitely earlier than anything.
