Das Kapital

Marx begins this part with a brief, untitled introduction. He argues, “The capitalist who produces surplus-value […] is admittedly the first appropriator of this surplus-value, but he is by no means the ultimate proprietor” (709). Instead, the surplus value is shared with others, such as the landlord. With this in mind, Marx plans to take the view of the accumulation of surplus value as capital in a general way and “as one aspect of the immediate process of production” (710).

Under capitalism, production is “continuous” (711), requiring the constant replacement of machines, tools, and raw materials. Thus, Marx describes it as “reproduction” instead (711). If reproduction only provides for the capitalist and is consumed as often as it is created, Marx terms this “simple reproduction” (712).

Wages are derived from the products that the worker reproduces. For Marx, the money from wages “is merely the transmuted form of the product of his labour” (712). Marx describes this process as an “illusion” where the worker is only paid back with their own “allotted share of their own product” (713). Variable

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