However, as I pointed out in my response to Matt Gross's example of Michael Jordan earlier this week, it is possible for a capitalist to pay a star writer or star performer at a rate which would not allow a profit except for the fact that there are thousands of other under-paid workers involved in the production of the commodity. Thus, precisely because the Chicago Bulls had so many exploited workers selling t-shirts, popcorn, etc., Michael Jordan could be paid at a rate that would seem to be far from exploitative. Then Michael Jordan becomes a sort of honorary capitalist, which is where I landed on the issue in my response to Matt. I tried to tell him that on the contrary my parents are quite happy and enjoy life. OK, I was that Marxist professor from the other class, but, in reading this account, I see that I didn't say what I wanted to say.
Professors can be just as exploited as roofers.
This doesn't mean that people in these jobs can't be happy, but, I think both roofers and professors stand a better chance of resisting their exploitation if they understand the processes of capitalism. Hence the need for both roofers and professors to read Marxist theory. Of course, some kinds of work are more exploitative and more alienating than others, and some people have more or less opportunity to choose a kind of work that appeals to them. I think, initially, I have had to partially erase all of the definitions I had for words such as work, labor, price, and value in order to approach Marx fairly and add to those definitions. I don't know that I have been completely successful in incorporating Marx's definitions into my brain, but I believe I am on the right track.