Have you ever looked at a piece of clothing or electronic device and wondered how many people it took, how much time was put into the labor, and how much each product cost to manufacture? Now, have you ever compared the price of manufacture to how much the finished products actually cost? You have probably not. All of these are key components in between getting the product from the hands of the labor to the hands of the consumer. Often over looked are these in between concepts that are discussed by Marx in his essay on economics that makes this operation possible. Be it in the form of an assembly line or in an Apple Factory overseas in China, the concept of mass production by man is not something we have not heard of. For the purpose of this blog I will show how wage, labor and capital, as well as estranged labor/alienation all play a key role in how all factories and other forms of employment operate today in mass production, labor/ man power, wage and distribution.
Marx explains that wage, labor and capital are an exhaustively economic and scientific observation of how the economy works and why it is exploitative. He also says this is the reason that it would ultimately implode from within. The economy is exploitative because it uses labor as a commodity. The laborer turns trades his work for a wage. The wage is paid by hour or by day from the capitalist and determines the price of the commodity that the laborer produces. What the product makes is capital. This is the intended goal and all that eventually matters in the end.
Today manufacturing process is a multi-million dollar operation that runs off of man power (labor). There are usual 100 upon thousands of employees that have a single job in an assembly line. Each job in the assembly is specific and has one goal intended, to move it to the next to produce a product in a timely fashion to turn a profit. This profit is classified as capital. Two examples in relations to this aspect of Marx's theory from the past would be the creation and production of Henry Ford's Model T and the way some factories of today operate.
Henry Ford, the father of the Ford automobile, used Marx theory to operate his business. Ford had roughly 14000 workers that each had specific job to do on an assembly line vs his competitors that had way more. These employees, or this labor, made 260,000 cars on average which is way more than his competitors as well. By having fewer workers he didn't have to distribute a lot of the money the company made to his employees. The repetitive process and of his assembly line and the way it detached the workers from self could be classified under estrange labor/alienation. To correct this manner, he raised his pay rates from $2.38 to $5.00. This would eventually take more out of his pockets. Contributing to this loss, he was also faced with hiring 100 more employees resulting in him having to pay for training. Some might accredit him for bankrupting his company but his plan was brilliant. By raising minimum wage, he was able to turn his autoworkers into auto customers, thus putting money back into his company.
This process can be seen in most modern day factories, clothing stores, and other places of employment. Employers often give their employees a discount on the merchandise they sale at stores. This is just a subliminal way to get the money back into their hands. The cycle begins with a worker that sells his labor for a wage. The wage is determined by the amount the commodity registers in the market by hour or day. How much the commodity makes is capital. This capital makes it easier to put money in the hands of its laborers. The labors take the money and put it back into the business by buy the product they make, sale, etc……Thus the cycle repeats itself. Marx explanation of how the economy is always moving in a circular motion because of production and exchange helps us to understand that capitalism controls the flow of money in and out of society.
Sources
http://www.wiley.com/legacy/products/subject/business/forbes/ford.html
Marx explains that wage, labor and capital are an exhaustively economic and scientific observation of how the economy works and why it is exploitative. He also says this is the reason that it would ultimately implode from within. The economy is exploitative because it uses labor as a commodity. The laborer turns trades his work for a wage. The wage is paid by hour or by day from the capitalist and determines the price of the commodity that the laborer produces. What the product makes is capital. This is the intended goal and all that eventually matters in the end.
Today manufacturing process is a multi-million dollar operation that runs off of man power (labor). There are usual 100 upon thousands of employees that have a single job in an assembly line. Each job in the assembly is specific and has one goal intended, to move it to the next to produce a product in a timely fashion to turn a profit. This profit is classified as capital. Two examples in relations to this aspect of Marx's theory from the past would be the creation and production of Henry Ford's Model T and the way some factories of today operate.
Henry Ford, the father of the Ford automobile, used Marx theory to operate his business. Ford had roughly 14000 workers that each had specific job to do on an assembly line vs his competitors that had way more. These employees, or this labor, made 260,000 cars on average which is way more than his competitors as well. By having fewer workers he didn't have to distribute a lot of the money the company made to his employees. The repetitive process and of his assembly line and the way it detached the workers from self could be classified under estrange labor/alienation. To correct this manner, he raised his pay rates from $2.38 to $5.00. This would eventually take more out of his pockets. Contributing to this loss, he was also faced with hiring 100 more employees resulting in him having to pay for training. Some might accredit him for bankrupting his company but his plan was brilliant. By raising minimum wage, he was able to turn his autoworkers into auto customers, thus putting money back into his company.
This process can be seen in most modern day factories, clothing stores, and other places of employment. Employers often give their employees a discount on the merchandise they sale at stores. This is just a subliminal way to get the money back into their hands. The cycle begins with a worker that sells his labor for a wage. The wage is determined by the amount the commodity registers in the market by hour or day. How much the commodity makes is capital. This capital makes it easier to put money in the hands of its laborers. The labors take the money and put it back into the business by buy the product they make, sale, etc……Thus the cycle repeats itself. Marx explanation of how the economy is always moving in a circular motion because of production and exchange helps us to understand that capitalism controls the flow of money in and out of society.
Sources
http://www.wiley.com/legacy/products/subject/business/forbes/ford.html