This is another one that I haven’t read before so I’m glad it’s the next one we’re covering. My weak point in understanding theory has also mainly been around the more detailed economic side. I often have some trouble understanding Marx’s writing style, but I think the introduction by Engels helped me better understand some of the things that I’ve felt my understanding was lacking in.

In particular I found this passage helpful:

In the present state of production, human labour-power not only produces in a day a greater value than it itself possesses and costs; but with each new scientific discovery, with each new technical invention, there also rises the surplus of its daily production over its daily cost, while as a consequence there diminishes that part of the working-day in which the labourer produces the equivalent of his day’s wages, and, on the other hand, lengthens that part of the working-day in which he must present labour gratis to the capitalist.

In the next paragraph he states: “[the portion of value] which the capitalist class retains, and which it has to share, at most, only with the landlord class, is increasing with every new discovery and invention, while the share which falls to the working class (per capita) rises but little and very slowly, or not at all, and under certain conditions it may even fall”.

Again, like one of the quotes that stuck out to me from our previous reading, I feel like it helped my understanding when the focus was put on the big picture. Sometimes the more detailed explanations about how value is generated get me thinking only about how this affects the worker in particular, and forgetting to think about how it affects the entire proletariat and bourgeoisie’s development as classes. Of course the details are necessary to understand the whole larger concept, but I think these quotes helped keep my understanding on track.

I also appreciated these lines at the end of the introduction: “This condition becomes every day more absurd and more unnecessary. It must be gotten rid of; it can be gotten rid of. A new social order is possible […] there will be the means of life, of the enjoyment of life, and of the development and activity of all bodily and mental faculties, through the systematic use and further development of the enormous productive powers of society, which exists with us even now”.

I don’t have more time today, so sorry if this post seems kind of disorganized, but those are my main thoughts. Looking forward to next week’s thread.

Study Guide Answer: I believe Marx is implying that social reforms will be a neat little temporary bonus, a bit of utopia brought to reality, only until revolution happens on a world-wide scale liberating the working class for good.

1. My personal dislikes/disagreements about the reading: I must admit that the economic side of Marxist-Leninist ideology is by far my weak point. I have a really hard time grasping some of the economic concepts. As far as the reading goes I have no complaints whatsoever.

2. My personal likes/agreements about the reading: I liked how Engels seems to do the thinking for you in the text. He lays out in plain English a brief summary of Marxian economics. I’m studying Capital on the side, and it was cool to see the main points of that book so beautifully summarized in a few pages.

3. How this could be applied today: Every word of the economic analyses is accurate to today. I find myself going into the store, or on the job, seeing these concepts live in action before me. I think it is awesome to be able to see and understand the world around you more through these texts.

I may be speaking out of my ass here since I’ve never done a book club, but I don’t think that going through short pamphlets such as this one piecemeal is very conducive to interesting discussion. In the particular case of this one, it is only a short preface right now that there isn’t much to discuss, but on a broader scope it can get into an awkward spot where most discussion will rely on either the further chapters or other sources. I understand that plenty of users are new to Marxism, but I think this format might fit better for larger books, since I’m pretty sure one can read the whole Wage Labour in 1-2 hours at most, which is quite a bit, but not enough to split it over what looks like will be 5 weeks.

Maybe we could have the “Thursday” thing be only for the name but make it a weeklong thing? I don’t even know what to say about the first two parts other than “They go in further depth later on.” I guess I could make a point that I don’t remember them making there, that inflation without increase in wages is often just the reallocation and expansion of the surplus value to better benefit the bourgeoisie.

Thank you mods for pinning the post