Contents
Section 1 – The Degree of Exploitation of Labour-Power
Section 2 – The Representation of the Components of the Value of the Product by Corresponding Proportional Parts of the Product itself
Section 3 – Senior’s “Last Hour”
Section 4 – Surplus-Produce
SECTION 1
THE DEGREE OF EXPLOITATION OF LABOUR-POWER
The surplus-value generated in the process of production by C, the capital advanced, or in other words, the self-expansion of the value of the capital C, presents itself for our consideration, in the first place, as a surplus, as the amount by which the value of the product exceeds the value of its constituent elements.
The capital C is made up of two components, one, the sum of money c laid out upon the means of production, and the other, the sum of money v expended upon the labour-power; c represents the portion that has become constant capital, and v the portion that has become variable capital. At first then, C = c + v: for example, if ?500 is the capital advanced, its components may be such that the ?500 = ?410 const. + ?90 var. When the process of production is finished, we get a commodity whose value = (c + v) + s, where s is the surplus-value; or taking our former figures, the value of this commodity may be (?410 const. + ?90 var.) + ?90 surpl. The original capital has _disibledevent= ?3 11s. 0d. / ?3 10s. 0d., giving a rate of surplus-value of more than 100%. The labourer employs more than one half of his working-day in producing the surplus-value, which different persons, under different pretexts, share amongst themselves.