Question on the Critique

[Paradox]

I'm reading Marx's "Critique of the Gotha Program" right now and I came across where he criticizes the part where it says "the abolition of the wage system together with the iron law of wages." What is this "iron law of wages" and what is the Malthusian theory of population Marx mentions along with it?

[Faceless]

Malthusian theory of population Marx mentions along with it? would be something like the population is always going to grow until it exceeds the capacity of society to feed them and so this is controlled either by abstaining from sex or starvation. This was a response to starvation under capitalist society but it is clear to marxists that this exceeding the holding capacity of society is entirely illusory. There is plenty for everyone at the moment and starvation is imposed on the lower classes. It was both a justification for the terrible social conditions of the workers and a call on the workers to either live religiously puritanical lives or to starve.

[NovelGentry]

Well I was writing out a nice summary and accidently closed the tab -- with that said, it's time for one sentence answer.

Malthusian theory is basically a proposition that blame poverty and the troubles of humanity on population growth.

The Iron Law of Wages is the idea that wages will always fall back (that is be lowered) to the level that would sustain the working class population and do little more. That is, the natural value, the value required to pay workers so that they can indeed work.

[Severian]

Yeah, and Lasalle for some reason took it over as an explanation for why wages were always low and couldn't be improved under capitalism.