And so now, let’s tug on that loose thread… I’m sure many of my left-leaning readers will say, “This is obvious, we have been talking about it for YEARS!” Yes, many of you have; but you were using language of emotion (“Pay a living wage!”) rather than showing the math.
I gotta say, anyone who critiques leftism by claiming the leftists don’t show the math hasn’t ever actually read Marx. Nevermind Piketty or Graeber or Wolff.
“Workers should have a greater share of their surplus value” is textbook Marxism. The idea of a “living wage” is tied back to the goal of de-fetishizing commodities. You want to recognize that stuff comes from people and pay them enough to exist in the world you’ve built. You don’t want at team of workers producing a commodity (for instance, winter coats) in such a way that certain individuals in the manufacturing chain can’t afford to live near the factory or purchase the output.
https://www.yesigiveafig.com/p/part-1-my-life-is-a-lie
I gotta say, anyone who critiques leftism by claiming the leftists don’t show the math hasn’t ever actually read Marx. Nevermind Piketty or Graeber or Wolff.
Or anyone online who ever took a month’s rent in a no frills apartment and multiplied by 3
Tbh Vanilla Marx is a pretty far cry from modern American leftist. “Pay a living wage” is itself about as anti-Marxist a statement one can make
“Workers should have a greater share of their surplus value” is textbook Marxism. The idea of a “living wage” is tied back to the goal of de-fetishizing commodities. You want to recognize that stuff comes from people and pay them enough to exist in the world you’ve built. You don’t want at team of workers producing a commodity (for instance, winter coats) in such a way that certain individuals in the manufacturing chain can’t afford to live near the factory or purchase the output.