Section 5 (pg. 95-123) Summary and Analysis

Marx's theories were leading him away from pure philosophy and to less abstract economic problems in society. It is perhaps ironic that Marx was trying to solve these economic problems for exploited workers when he could not solve his own economic problems. In spite of poverty, Marx continued to work on how the capitalist system exploited workers. The capitalist buys the labor power, thus, a worker's labor power is a commodity. The capitalist buys the labor, along with the supplies, to make his product. Workers are exploited because they do not earn the full value of their labor. Marx gives the example of a worker making a machine part. During the course of the day, the worker adds 6 pounds (currency) to the value of the machine part through his labor; however, the worker is given 3 pounds by...