Karl Marx

A detailed Summary of Karl Marx

A society that is characterized predominantly by production directly for use is a bit different than a society characterized predominantly by production for exchange. In a society where production is directly for the use of the product, a good or commodity is only worth whatever its use-value is. This means that a product's worth is based solely on its use to the person using it. A good example of this system would be feudalism in which a serf would be able to produce enough for his own needs and then sell the surplus product in order to buy other useful products that he himself cannot produce. In a society that uses production for exchange a product is only worth whatever it's exchange-value is. Exchange-value is based on the labor time "socially necessary" for the production of the particular commodity, and is the main measure that determines rates of exchange and thus the logic of commodity production. Capitalism is the main example of this type of social production, a capitalist will use "capital" to invest in goods or commodities in order to gain a profit by exploiting laborers.

In a society characterized by simple commodity production there are many differences from a society characterized by capitalistic productio

n. Simple commodity production is the production of commodities without the use of wage labor. For instance a person will produce enough of a given commodity for his own use, and then exchange the surplus commodity for money or other commodities. In a society characterized by capitalistic production, a person starts out with money with which he buys commodities (labor, goods, etc.) in order to get more money. The capitalist will generally invest in commodities such as buildings, tools, and workers. If you consider the case of your average bread-maker, the difference in the two societies becomes easier to see. In the case of simple commodity production the bread-maker will be able to trade his product for other goods of equal use. On the other hand, in a capitalist society, a bread-maker will not control his means of production. He probably will be a wage laborer and will be just another investment on the part of the capitalist. Another important difference between simple commodity production and capitalism is the distribution of social labor. In a simple commodity production people are only separated by the quality of their commodity since they are the sole means of production. In capitalist production the means of production are controlled by the upper class, thus creating a divide between the working class and the upper class. Th

Some common words found in the essay are:
, commodity production, simple commodity production, simple commodity, means production, society characterized, production directly, control means production, non-exploitive production, control means, upper class, production capitalist, people control means, class upper class, production commodities, commodity production capitalism,

Approximate Word count = 910
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: Politics