Paul Cockshott wrote:
> Yes the labour of producing Rolls Royces is certainly unproductive,
> as is all labour in department III ( labour that is devoted to capitalist
> luxury consumption ).
I understand that your D-III is the same as Marx's D-IIb (articles of
luxury, according to Intern. Publ.). Well, in Marx's examples this sector
produces surplus-value like any other. Following your reasoning, it seems
that only the
labour expended in the production of means of production would be
productive, because both the worker's and the capitalist's consumption is
unproductive consumption, although the worker's consumption can be taken as
indirectly productive.
Considering that the working day is divided into necessary and excess
labour, and that the later one objectifies itself - in the same way as the
former one - in the product of the expended labour, and considering further
that the labourer produces the commodities for the capitalist's consumption
during his excess labour time, it follows that the worker produces value
during both parts of the working day, and that the commodities produced
during the excess time are values for the same reason as the ones produced
during the necessary time.
Claus Germer
cmgermer@sociais.ufpr.br
Departamento de Economia
Universidade Federal do Paraná
Rua Dr. Faivre, 405 - 3º andar
80060-140 Curitiba - Paraná
Brasil
Tel: (041) 360-5214 - Ufpr
(041) 254-3415 Res.
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