Barrister Shemano writes: >... 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?< This production process took two days. The crew produced the SV on the first day, but it was only _realized_ on the second. S&G produced some of it on the second day, but they also claimed more than they produced. The fact that they were able to claim more than they produced (their monopoly power) is indicated that they were able to cancel the first day simply because of a spat -- and then allow the realization of the surplus-value on the second day. (This assumes that there are lots of people who would be willing to pay to hear their music.) It's possible that the produced SV could have gone to waste, i.e., if S&G's spat had continued. In that case, the SV would not have been realized. jd
