![]() The greater the productive power of labour, the greater can the number of non-workers be in proportion to the workers, and the greater the number of workers who are not employed in the production of the necessary means of subsistence, or are not employed in material production at all, or, finally, the greater the number of persons who either directly are proprietors of the surplus produce or who work neither physically nor intellectually but still perform “services” which the owners of the surplus produce pay for by setting aside a part of the latter for them. Moreover, the real wealth at the disposal of the single individual would be very small here. For him to live 3 or 4 times better, and in addition to be able to turn a part of the surplus value back into capital, perhaps 23 x 8 workers, = 184 workers, would have to be employed for one single individual. Hence in this case 23 workers would be necessary in order to maintain one single person who lives without work, but only lives like a worker. But since 23 /2 hours are required to maintain a single worker, the following calculation applies:ġ provides 1/2 an hour of surplus labour. If we assume that the necessary labour time = 1 1 1/2 hours, and the working day = 12 hours, one worker provides a surplus value of 1/2 an hour. If, inversely, the natural productive power of labour is small, hence the labour time required for the satisfaction of even simple needs is great, the development of surplus produce (or surplus labour) can only come close to forming alien wealth if the number of people simultaneously exploited by one person is large. A high level of productive power of labour, of natural origin, is connected with a rapid increase in the population - in labour capacities - and therefore in the material out of which the surplus value is cut. if the natural fertility of the soil, the waters, etc., requires only - a slight expenditure of labour to be made to gain the means of subsistence necessary to existence, this natural productive power of labour, or, if you please, this productivity of labour of natural and spontaneous origin, naturally functions - if we consider the mere duration of the necessary labour time - in exactly the same way as the development of the social productive power of labour. On the other hand: If the natural productive power of labour is very high - i.e. However, the physical possibility of a surplus produce, in which surplus labour is objectified, clearly depends on 2 circumstances: If needs are very limited, then even with a small natural productive power of labour a part of the labour time can suffice to satisfy them, and thus to leave another part over for surplus labour, and therewith for the creation of the surplus produce. The only further requirement is that he should be compelled - that an external compulsion should exist for him - to work more than the necessary labour time, a compulsion to do surplus labour. through the development of productive power.īut the mere existence of absolute surplus value implies nothing more than such a level of natural fertility, hence a productivity of labour of natural and spontaneous origin, that not all the (possible) (daily) labour time of a man is required for the maintenance of his own existence or the reproduction of his own labour capacity. If we presuppose the working day as given, the development of relative surplus value alone is possible, i.e. Given the development of productive power, surplus value always appears as absolute surplus value, and in particular any change in it is only possible through a change in the total working day. ![]() We have seen how the separation of the two forms brings forth differences in the ‘relations of wages and surplus value. We have considered the two forms of absolute and relative surplus value separately, but shown at the same time how they are interconnected, and that it is precisely with the development of relative surplus value that absolute surplus value is pushed to its uttermost limit. Parts of XXI-1303, 1305, 13 were cut out and pasted into the text of “ Chapter Six”, and much of the text of the remaining pages reappears in the text of “Chapter Six”. ![]() On the cover of Notebook XX, Marx wrote “May 1863”. This section follows directly on from the Addenda following the last section of Relative Surplus Value at the start of Notebook XX. Part 3) Relative Surplus Value i) Formal and Real Subsumption of Labour under Capital. Economic Manuscripts: Marx's Economic Manuscripts of 1861-63
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