Re Rakesh's latest: > It does not necessarily go up. That was my point. > But it's reasonable to assume that > with greater intensity there will be a need for more consumption > and more time off at some point. I already dealt with the issue of whether the VLP changes with an increase in the intensity of labor. As for "more time off", I don't quite see your point. Assuming that there is _only_ an increase in the intensity of labor (rather than being combined with an increase in the hours of work) I see no reason to suppose that workers need, in some physiological sense, additional time each day for rest. On the other hand, an increase in absolute surplus value by lengthening the working day can run afoul of workers needs for non-working time if it means that they are unable to get the minimum required amount of sleep each day that is necessary to avoid fatigue and function efficiently on the job (thus an increase in absolute surplus value beyond some point might lead to a decrease in the intensity of labor and output per worker per working hour, i.e. productivity.) > Workers will need to make more to enjoy > unpaid leave to get the rest they will need. I don't get this point. Indeed, it seems more reasonable to suggest that the more intensively they work, the more they will 'enjoy' non-working time. In any event, I see no reason to suppose that capitalists will give workers additional time for rest with an increase in the intensity of labor so that they can 'enjoy' their non-working time better. > Yes this is not > necessary, I just consider it highly likely. Once you admit that it is not necessary, there is no longer a necessary link between changes in the intensity of labor and the VLP. So ... perhaps we are moving closer to each other after all. > And they need more time off as well. Which means that they have to > make enough to be able to take unpaid leave. See above. > I think the conditions of many workers in the world's factories > are indeed this dire. This indeed is a condition which varies internationally. I think A.G. Frank had some statistics on this issue in _Crisis in the Third World_. > drinking water often has to be purchased ... but it normally isn't in most parts of the world. In any event, drinking water is often provided gratis in factories. > My claim elsewhere to which you did not respond is that once > we have a stable level of intensity which is customary or normal, > then an hour of labor more intense than that counts as more than > an hour. In this case intensification is an elongation of the > working day, a form of absolute surplus value. Didn't respond to ? ? ? I responded to precisely this point in a whole bunch of posts in recent days. You might not have been satisfied with those responses, but that's another issue. > Well once we introduce an exogeneous shock to the system such as a > doubling of the intensity of labor Changes in labor intensity should not be thought of as constituting "exogeneous shocks". Changes in labor intensity are a direct consequence of class struggle ... and class struggle is not an "exogeneous" force re the production of surplus value within a capitalist system. In solidarity, Jerry
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