• Rextreff@lemmygrad.ml
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    1 month ago

    I don’t see how this could be the case, if a machine can perform the same type and amount of labour as a human what’s the difference?

    • CriticalResist8@lemmygrad.mlOP
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      1 month ago

      I forgot to mention wear and tear on the machine in my earlier explanation (fuel, repairs, depreciation and cost of acquiring the machine etc). It’s in the panel (the 10G in constant capital) on top of the cost of raw materials.

      With this wear and tear, the machine passes on a little bit of its own value to the item it produces. Because it was created by human labor, it transfers its own pre-existing value into the commodities it outputs – transferring implies that it’s lost from the machine and gained into the item.

      Human labor, however, can generate more value than it consumes - the 1G paid to the worker to socially reproduce and come back to work the next day, with which he produces 2 or more chairs.