å Saturday, September 24th, 2016

In his example of the weaver, Marx showcases how a capitalist buys the labor-power of a weaver, the loom, and the yarn used to make cloth. All three are used to make a product and therefore all three are equal commodities.  The weaver, then, does not get a share of the price of the product, but gets paid for his labor-power by wages (Marx, p.2).  His labor-power is what he owns and can sell to a capitalist for wages in order to live (Marx, p.2).

Once the idea of labor-power is established, Marx then goes on to state that putting labor-power into action, or working, is how one’s life activities are expressed (Marx, p.2). Working, or labor-activity, must be sold to a capitalist in order for a worker to maintain his existence.  When one works, as a weaver for example, his product is not what he produces for himself.  A weaver looms yarn and produces cloth, which is the product.  The cloth will be turned into another item, a dress, a blanket, etc. (Marx, p.3).  But the weaver does not keep the cloth, nor the finished product of the dress or blanket.  He only gets to keep the wages paid by the capitalist who hired him (Marx, p.2).

Since the worker only gets to keep the wages the capitalist pays him to produce that certain commodity, there is this personal distance between the worker and the commodity they produce, and worker may feel alienated from it. The worker may begin to put less effort into the commodity, compromising its quality.  The worker could also not be concerned with their efficiency in making the commodity, especially if they are getting paid hourly wages.  Not only could this alienation of the worker from the commodity cause the one’s work ethic to decline, it could also cause his happiness to decline.  If he is only going to work to produce a commodity that he has no real connection with or ownership of, this may cause lack of pride and feeling of purpose.  The worker could begin to feel as though he is living just to work so he can survive and not enjoy the time he spends here.  Since the worker needs the wages paid to him by capitalists, it may become clear to him that he belongs to the entire capitalist class, causing even greater alienation and insecurity in his life (Marx, p.3).