Karl Marx points out many keys issues when it comes to the owners of production and the workers of production. Marx see’s the workers of production, the proletarians sell their labor power to the bourgeois, instead of the bourgeois( the capitalist” as Marx calls them in the Wage Labour and Capital article) buying their labour. Marx’s theories are trying to point out the people themselves were commodities and so is labour power as well was a commodity.
Equally important is, Marx believes that the results that the bourgeois and the proletarians respectfully getting back from production is not fair nor equal and that there is no direct relationship between the two. In the article Estranged Labor, it states how the owners of production got much better things in life, “it produces palaces- but for worker, hovels.” The labor power that is being talked about is a commodity as Marx points out, because an individuals skill is exchanged for time that comes with benefits of a wage. Also through his theory, Marx feels that capitalism has existed decades ago as well with slavery/ masters, and serfs/lords. Even then the workers and owners couldn’t not function together as Marx talks about in his dialectic.
As we discussed in class about sports and how players get traded for one another with cash considerations. Another similar topic that has been discussed in the sports world lately has been if college athletes so were paid (wages) since they are giving up their labor to the university that they play for. Since the athletes provide labor by playing sports, they should be able to get paid for that, since their time and work is a commodity as Marx points out.
College athletes bring a lot of revenue to the colleges that they play for but, also the television stations that broadcast their games. These athletes are being exploited by a lot of people, since the players cannot get anymore, even if they sell their jersey, its considered to be unlawful and the athlete could face a suspension. Also these players create a lot of surplus value to a lot of people just not to them selves. For example NCAA and CBS television signed a $10.8 billion contract to broadcast games for the next 14 years. Guess how much the students that are actually playing in these games getting? You guessed it…nothing. This issue has been a major topic in college sports right now, if labor (time and skill) is a commodity, the only piece missing is the wage for the players.
Read this article for my class presentation:
Why college athletes should be paid By: Tyson Hartnett
Link: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/tyson-hartnett/college-athletes-should-be-paid_b_4133847.html