3. For Marx what is inherently exploitative about capitalism?
Karl Marx's theory of exploitation, which holds that workers in a capitalist society are exploited in the sense that they are forced to sell their labor-power to capitalists for less than the total value of the commodities they produce with their labor, is by far the most influential theory of exploitation ever put forth.
On the other hand, exploitation was a phenomenon that Marx saw in all class-based societies, not only capitalism. Indeed, the exploitative nature of class relations is most evident in feudal society rather than capitalism. It is clear that under feudalism, serfs employ some of their labor capacity for their gain, while the rest (the corvée) is used for the feudal lord's benefit. Workers in slavery, on the other hand, appear to work solely for the advantage of their masters (though in reality, a part of their labor goes toward providing for their subsistence). Workers seem to work only for their benefit under capitalism, offering capitalists free independent contractors.
Workers' labor under capitalism, according to Marx, is neither wholly voluntary nor solely for the advantage of the workers. It is not genuinely choice because employees are forced to sell their labor-power to capitalists or starve due to their lack of control of the means of production. Employees aren't working solely for their gain because capitalists take advantage of their privileged position by taking some of the value created by workers' labor.
To comprehend Marx's charge of exploitation, one must first understand Marx's market-price analysis, which he essentially inherited from earlier classical economists like Adam Smith and David Ricardo. Workers' labor-power is viewed as a commodity under capitalism, according to Marx. Because Marx believed in a labor theory of value, the price (or wage) of labor-power is determined by its cost of production—specifically, the quantity of socially necessary work required to produce it, just like any other commodity such as butter or grain. The value or labor cost needed to conserve and reproduce a worker's labor power is known as the cost of producing labor power. To put it another way, Marx believed that employees under capitalism would be paid only enough to cover the essential needs of life. They will be paid a meager living wage.
However, while labor-power is priced similarly to every other commodity in terms of its decision, it is distinctive in one crucial respect. According to Marx, labor and labor alone have the power to produce value beyond what is required for its reproduction. Surplus value is the difference between the value a worker generates in a certain period and the consumer products needed to keep the worker alive. Put another way, the value of the commodities that support a worker for a twelve-hour workday is less than the value of the things the worker can generate during that time.
As a result, according to Marx, the working day is divided into two portions. The laborer works for himself in the first half, creating goods worth the same as the wages he receives. The laborer works for the capitalist in the second phase, producing surplus value for the capitalist for which he does not receive comparable wages. The laborer's job is effectively underpaid during this second half of the day, in the same manner that a medieval serf's corvée is unpaid (though not as overtly).
Thus, capitalist exploitation is defined as the forceful capture of capitalists' surplus value produced by workers. Workers in capitalism are forced to sell their labor-power to capitalists for less than the total value of the things they have because they do not own the means of production. On the other hand, capitalists do not need to generate anything and may instead rely on the productive energies of employees. As a result, the surplus value that capitalists can take from workers becomes a source of capitalist profit, "strengthening that very power whose slave it is."
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