What is exploitation
Such “exploitation” is presented to us as exceptional and contrasted with the “normality” of working life for most people .
There is a different understanding of exploitation . Rather than seeing it as exceptional , exploitation is fundamental to capitalism .
Exploitation is not just about the level of wages received , or working conditions but is the very process whereby capitalism creates profits out of the work we do. In order to understand this meaning of exploitation we need start by understanding explanation of where profits ultimately come from , what Karl Marx termed “labour theory of value”
Marx argued that human labour is the source of all value – he argued that the amount of amount of valued created by people when they work in greater than the amount they receive back in wages .Therefore the capitalist in stealing from workers some of the value that their labour has created .The ‘’surplus value’’ forms the basis of profit .They generally accept that the world of work involves an equitable exchange “a fair day’s pay for fair day’s work .If anything we are told that workers are being ‘’greedy’ ’when they demand pay increases over and above what is considered ‘’fair’’. Such ‘’selfish’’ pay demands risk the ‘’health of the whole economy’’ ,they claim.
Fair’s fair?
The ideology of ‘’free and fair exchange ‘’masks the exploitation built into the capitalist system .It hides the exploitation that goes on every day in a society where tiny minority of people make vast profits out of the work done by the majority .For most human history people had worked primarily for their own consumption .They produced things that met their needs directly , whether it was food grown on their land or clothes they made at home. In contrast , capitalism is all about commodity production- things are produced not for immediate use but as commodities to be sold on the market.
Commodities do have to be of some use eventually , but they have to be exchanged for money before the producers can get any benefit from their efforts. Therefore all commodities have an “exchange value”. Their price reflects this exchange value.
But how is this exchange value determined? One thing all the different commodities bought and sold under capitalism have in common is that they are all products of human labour .It is this that provides the basis for exchange.
In previous societies , before money was universally used, people would swap or batter items with one another. How much or how little was exchanged would generally depend on how long people had taken to make the items.
Two people would only swap items if they felt it had taken roughly the same amount of time for each to make their items- otherwise it would not seem like a fair deal .It was not just an exchange of items that had taken place but an exchange of the labour time of the people involved. The method of batter trade is obliviously very time consuming and inefficient .As commodity production increased , the use of money became more important as a way of equating different products .Previously one table may have been swapped for two chairs based on the amount of labour time used. Now one table maybe equal $10 , and therefore one chair would equal $5.
The price charged still reflects the amount of labour time gone into making the product, but the use of money –since it can be exchanged for any commodity – cuts out the need for direct exchange between producers. Money allows us to equate things that seem to have nothing in common, in terms of materials , how they have been made or their actual use. Because of things money appears to be the goal of production under capitalism. Acquiring it often feels like our own personal goal , since it will enable us to buy the things for a better life .Therefore it can seem like money is the source of value.
But money only has value to the extent that it gives you a claim on the labour of others. If you had stacks of money but nothing was being produced , then it would be no use.
It is the common element of human labour that allows us to measure how much a particular commodity should be sold for on the market. And it is this that determines their value. The price of a commodity reflects the labour time needed to produce it.
So far it still seems as if everyone is on a more or less equal footing. But if all commodities are exchanged according to amount of labour needed to produce them , where does profit come from?
The answer lies in the relationship between the capitalist and the wage labour. Our Capitalism, our ability to work our “labour power”-also a commodity to be bought and sold like everything else. This is not a secrete . We talk of joining the “labour market” after finishing education . We try to make ourselves more “marketable” to employers .
Workers ell their ability to work(their labour power) to a particular employers or capitalist for an agreed price(wage) .our labour power is extremely useful to the capitalist since it is able to create all sorts of products.
But how is its exchange value determined? The price of labour power is determined just like that of any other commodity. It depends on the amount of labour required to produce it. Now behind the term labour power lies a human being, although the capitalists often like to forget this . So workers get paid enough money to keep them going. You get enough money for food, the cost of your rent, clothing and enough rest time to enable you to arrive at work each morning able to put in the required amount of effort and attention .
So what determines wages is the cost of living in a society .You go to work where you create products for the capitalist. In turn you get money- your wage- with which you buy the different things you need to survive, products that have themselves been created by other people`s labour .This still seems quite fair , since you get paid the amount needed to cover your cost of living. But there is a difference between the amount you are paid for your labour power and the value that your labour creates when you work. For example, it may only take four hours of society`s total labour to produce the things that you and your family require. So by lunchtime , you have covered your wages and by rights you have to go home .But you do not stop work in the afternoon and perhaps do an eight hour day .If four hours of your has created enough value to pay your wages , then the capitalist takes the next four hours of work from you for nothing.
In this example the capitalist is able to pocket a “surplus” of four labour hours a day from each worker. This is what is called “surplus value” which is the source of profits.
Your labour creates more value than we need for our labour power. So exploitation is not an anomaly under capitalism – it is part of the normal workings of the system.
But there is another side to exploitation .The problem for capitalists is that when they buy labour power , what they get are people who can think and act for themselves . Most of people do not go into work thinking that their wages should just cover the minimum required to enable them to keep on working another day. Instead we look at the tremendous wealth in society and think- rightly – that we are entitled to a better standard of living. So there is a continual struggle over the cost of labour power. Battles over pay break out regularly , especially at times when the real cost of living is going up.
If exploitation is crucial to capitalism , the logical conclusion is that an end to exploitation would require an end to capitalism .All the day to day battles over pay and conditions represents more limited battles against exploitation.
If we win some of these battles, it gives us the confidence and strength to win more. It also helps us to win the battle of ideas to convince others that we have to get rid of the whole system .
END
Part of Political economy the Union teaches to members .