Dear Friends and Colleagues, I'm writing a brief article on the labor theory of value and wanted input on the math (below) and or your own ideas/methods of teaching this concept to undergrads. I will quote you in the piece and add your ideas, if they are suited, I am writing this for an anthropology newsletter and it may appear elsewhere after it is done. Here is the beginning. Thank you all in advance. Best, Brian
The Vampire at Work If Marx’s Math is Fundamental,Why do so few Teach it? Brian McKenna “Capital is theft. Your employer legally steals the productsof your labor. Do you know the math?” I ask my anthropology students. They sit, stony faced. “Has anyone here ever worked for McDonalds?” I ask. Usuallyabout 5 or 6 of my 60 Introduction students raise their hands. “And the pay. . . . how was it?” “It was horrible, about $6.00 an hour.” “We were exploited,man.” “Exploited?” I inquire. “How so?” “We should’ve been getting at least 10 bucks an hour,” ayoung woman says. “You have no idea,” I respond. “Let’s look at how Karl Marx might see it.” Marx Flipping Burgers Let’s say young Karl left the University of 1834 and wastransported here to Detroit Michigan in 2012 and found himself desperate to payfor college. He finds a job at the local McDonald’s as a burger flipper. Nowflipping requires several skills, including, Now I want to compare two sets of times for his work. Onetime, during a rush hour. Another time during an hour’s lull in customeractivity. Besieged by a customer rush, young Marx, frantically flips210 hamburgers between 5PM and 6 PM one evening. At $ 1.00 a sandwich, hislabor helps to bring in $210.00 in McDonald’s revenue. Two hours later, the rush in abeyance, Karl flips just 70burgers between 8PM and 9 PM. He’s still quite busy, but that hour McDonald’srevenue from the meat drops to $70.00 Question for the class: Given that Karl Marx performed threetimes the labor in the first hour than the second hour, helping his boss earn $210versus $70 dollars, how much more money did Marx receive in compensation forthat hour? “None, he still gets the same,” a student answers. “Yes, not a cent more. Young Marx is still paid the $5.50per hour with no benefits.” “Well, why not get “$52.50, the first hour and $17.50 thesecond hour,” I ask, “That might be closer to the value that you added. The Labor theory of Value (section being written)
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