![]() ![]() Labor was not always wage-labor, i.e., free labor. ![]() Labor-power was not always a commodity (merchandise). His life-activity, therefore, is but a means of securing his own existence. And this life activity he sells to another person in order to secure the necessary means of life. Why does he sell it? It is in order to live.īut the putting of labor-power into action – i.e., the work – is the active expression of the laborer’s own life. Wages are only a special name for the price of labor-power and are usually called the price of labor it is the special name for the price of this peculiar commodity, which has no other repository than human flesh and blood.Ĭonsequently, labor-power is a commodity which its possessor, the wage-worker, sells to the capitalist. And after she has bought it, she uses it up by letting the workers work during the stipulated time. This labor-power the capitalist buys for a day, a week, a month, etc. ![]() What they actually sell to the capitalist for money is their labor-power. They would all agree upon one point: that wages are the amount of money which the capitalist pays for a certain period of work or for a certain amount of work.Ĭonsequently, it appears that the capitalist buys their labor with money, and that for money they sell her their labor. If several workmen were to be asked: “How much wages do you get?”, one would reply, “I get $9 an hour,” “$50 a day,” and so on. Introduction – Why this is important and what to look for. ![]()
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