The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1928-10-01

variable capital. The same elements
of capital which, from the point of
view of the labor-process, present
themselves respectively as the OBJ
jective and subjective factors, as
means of production and labor
power, present themselves, from the
point of view of the process of Gre
ating surplus-value, as constant and
variable capital" Capital, Vol. l,
PIP. 232-233 (Chas. H. Kerr edition. J
Production of Surplus Value.
While capital, under the present
system of wealth production, is held
by Marx to be productive, there is
clear distinction between that part
of capital (wages) which is used to
create values greater than itself and
that part (machinery, raw material,
etc. which in the process of pro-
duction does not undergo any change
of value.
This leads us to another PROPOSE
ton that Professor Carver is unable
to fathom-the production Of sur
plus value. This soothsayer of the
bourgeoisie, this miserable groveller
before the parasitic owners of in
dustry, says:
LAS a corollary of the theory
that capital in private hands is
essentially predatory, it was held
by Marx that there was some
thing in the nature of interest,
rent and profit, which he grouped
together as constituting the in
come of the capitalist, which
necessarily absorbs all surplus
value, leaving the laborer poor
in the midst. of progress"
Surely, if one does start with "a
false premise, the more logically one
reasons the further astray one goes. "
Just what constitutes surplus value :?
We have demonstrated before that
the capital invested in labor-power
(wages) is variable capital because
in the process of production it not
only reproduces the equivalent of
its own value but adds a value
greater than itself. The reason for
this is because the working day is
divided into two parts, necessary
labor time, the time required for the
worker to produce the equivalent of
that which he receives in wages; and
surplus labor time, that time
during which he works for the
capitalist and receives nothing in
return. If it requires three hours
for the average worker to produce
the equivalent of what he receives
in wages and the working day is
eight hours, it is obvious that during
five hours of the working day he is
engaged in producing surplus value
for the capitalist or group Of capital
lists who claim ownership of the
means of production.
Professor Carver is also far astray
when he claims that Marx contends
that interest, rent and profit absorbs
all surplus value. Marx specifically
states that trent, interest and profit
are only different parts of the sur
plus value of the commodity, or the
unpaid labor enclosed in it and they
are equally derived from this source
and this source alone" Value,
Price and Profit, page 90; Kerr edi-
tom. 1t would be exceedingly in
teresting to learn what sort of brain
contortions the erudite professor in
dulges in to convince his Harvard
class of spawn of the bourgeoisie
that the constituent parts can alb
sorb the whole.
Parasitism of Capitalists.
MARXISTS not merely contended
!" that capitalists as class are
parasites, but proved it. The work
of superintendent that the early
capitalists did is now performed by
hired men. The average capitalist
doesn't know the most elementary