Marxist Napoleon
29th November 2007, 01:43
I, like most of the people who visit this forum, believe in the labor theory of value. I understand that a commodity's worth is comprised of the amount of labor it took to produce and the cost of materials used. My question is, how does a socialist economy grow under these terms? The question of growth is answered in capitalism by profit. Since we are obviously against profit, how do we create the excess capital needed to make new enterprises or increase production? If all of an enterprise's income goes to paying workers and paying for materials, how does it grow?
I came up with a few possible answers:
A socialist form of profit, in a way. This would entail a worker giving up a share of his income to an enterprise or government to create a new enterprise or improve existing ones.
A system of taxation where all taxes went towards economic growth, and the costs of education, health, etc. would be taken from a workers' wages, with the assumption that these services would be provided for free.
The third solution, which is probablly most compatible with the labor theory of value, is that new or unemployed workers themselves provide their labor to make enterprises grow or make an agreement with the socialist state to form a new enterprise. Since there is an infinate potential for labor, is this the source of economic growth?
I came up with a few possible answers:
A socialist form of profit, in a way. This would entail a worker giving up a share of his income to an enterprise or government to create a new enterprise or improve existing ones.
A system of taxation where all taxes went towards economic growth, and the costs of education, health, etc. would be taken from a workers' wages, with the assumption that these services would be provided for free.
The third solution, which is probablly most compatible with the labor theory of value, is that new or unemployed workers themselves provide their labor to make enterprises grow or make an agreement with the socialist state to form a new enterprise. Since there is an infinate potential for labor, is this the source of economic growth?