According to Karl Marx, the surplus value is bad. Why is Karl Marx wrong?
On QUORA: According to Karl Marx, the surplus value is bad. Why is Karl Marx wrong?
He didn’t believe it was bad. He just wanted it to go to labor. Yet this is both selfish and wrong.
The following are the value/cost components of a product or service:
- Labor (a cost);
- Capital (a resource);
- The savings, profit, or enhanced quality resulting from the service or product—merit.
Labor benefits from the hours contributed. It is pretty simple, I am afraid. It is a cost. Labor works hard to be sure. If you are labor, thank you. But, labor does not produce profit per se. When labor is a value add, it is called talent (craftmanship). And yes, that form of labor demands/deserves more. But pure labor does not.
Capital is also a necessary element, but like labor (not talent), it is not value add. Capital gets paid simply for its use. Marxists do not understand this. Capital does not participate in the creation of value. Instead, capital participates, like labor, in the PRODUCTION of value. It should not enjoy a slice of the profit.
Entrepreneurs get paid for the CREATION of value. Yet, this is not precisely excess value (ignorant Marxists). It is an entirely new value. It is the reason civilization exists. This value should go only to its creators—the entrepreneur. Sorry Marxist.
Marxists can’t see this because they cannot see the meritocracy. The meritocracy, tragically, is invisible to them.