Prof. Devine writes: >> The hired folks (the crew, etc.) probably produced more value than they received in >> wages, so Marxian exploitation was going on: surplus-value was likely produced >> (though I don't know the details of the case). S&G are super-star members of the >> working class, so they probably got a chunk of the surplus-value on top of their >> wages. >> TicketMaster and the concert impresarios got the rest, I'd guess. I don't know who >> owns the Hollywood Bowl. If it's the city, then some of the surplus-value went to >> the >> (local part of the) state. >> >> The class relations part of the concert (exploitation, production of surplus-value) >> reflects the class relations of US capitalism as a whole. There was also some >> distribution of that s-v to S&G, TicketMaster, the impresarios, and perhaps the >> city. >> >> In the ideal socialism, the concert would have been organized democratically, by a >> pact between a democratically-run city and a workers' cooperative running the Bowl. >> S&G's company would also be a workers' cooperative (though I imagine that the >> performers would have more say than most in decisions). They wouldn't e earning >> super-star salaries.
Humor me on this. I need some Marx 101. Let's imagine the crew does all their work. They set up the special sound and light systems, etc. However, Simon and Garfunkel get into a fight and refuse to perform, so the show is cancelled and all ticket are refunded. The next night, Simon and Garfunkel reunite. The crew, pissed off, refuses to do any work. So Simon and Garfunkel go on stage, Simon plugs his guitar into the existent sound system, and notwithstanding the lack of special lighting, a backup band, etc., the two of them perform for 18,000 people who pay $2.7 million. I am not sure what my questions are. In what sense is the crew producing surplus value? What value did they produce on night one? What exactly is the value that is being created? Isn't all the value, for all practical purposes, being created by Simon and Garfunkel? Isn't the crews' value purely contextual and unrelated to their labor per se? David Shemano
