I feel so much much better about my life after watching this. My brain melted down midway through chapter 3 and I didn't realise just how much tension had built up in my psyche that I couldn't get past it. I know it's no substitute for reading it but I feel now I can tackle it again with the basic parameters of what I'm reading set out. If I had any money I would seek out a way of giving some of it to you fine young people. Thank you!!!
saying? that you're missing the valuation of brain work .. or .. generally .. or .. yours / and what's the difference in between young and old in relation to melt-downs .. anyway, what is !really! your point here
@@JRWall-hf9mq yeah, just tell him that .. maybe by sms .. or email .. he might change his idea in his 19th century .. and tell him how much of academic soul you are and how capable to reenact people like him nowadays, dr. wall, or was against the wall .. what is more annoying substance or being out in the left field .. dr. wall likes to win easy
@@JRWall-hf9mq dr. judge mental .. in relation to the speed of light we are all retards .. sensitive? i don't like ignoramuses, am i sensitive then? well, yes, i'm a sensitive one.
I started reading das kapital a few days ago and was struggling a lot, but watching this alongside reading the book has made the material much more digestibl, this video was extremely helpful, thank you!
Very nice. This is a chapter I have struggled to understand for a long time and you have summarized it extremely professionally. I hope you will continue through all 3 volumes of Kapital.
"Yeah, we hope that trying to understand the whole book and not just a few soundbites will help people understand the underlying philosphy and maybe even make them think critically about the problems within the idiology around Marx. We'll see if this is possible given our short attention span (which I am also very guilty of, the internet really does change our brains haha)." - from their Reddit account
Yep that is our Reddit comment, thanks for bringing it up (although I did delete the other 3 times you copy-pasted this in our comment section, better to have this conversation in one place, otherwise it'll get confusing)! We do encourage thinking about these works critically (we should think critically about anything we read). Questioning and challenging ideas will not only make us think about them in depth, but will also lead to these ideas being improved. -R edited because of spelling mistakes, sorry it's not my first language
Bosuac Jafari i’d say you should read Kapital and also watch videos and consume other resources relating to the book as supplement. But reading the original text along with aides is probably best!
you should read das kapital, IMO. but i understand if you don't want to (no everybody enjoys spending 10-15mini per page, although not everyone has to), I'm currently doing it, it's worth it if you take your time, write notes and review it. some friends and I have organized in a reading group to discuss each chapter, we've only been through the first, but it's fun and interesting. to see other opinions, sometimes things slip past you when you read.
Thanks for this amazing video regarding commodity I learnt from this 1. Difference between thing and commodity 2. What is commodity 3. Use value 4. Exchange value 5. Value - what we experience in exchange value , but marx wants to remember use value 6. Labor- twofold nature - a) it creates useful value in things b) it helps in the creation of exchange value exchange 7. Labour time - how much socially necessary time is spent in producing an element of commodity 8. Useful labour - productive activity of a definite kind and exercised with a definite aim. 9. Social division of labour - different shorts of useful value for producing different shorts of use value of things creates a complex system known as socially division of labour . 10. Division of labour is a socially necessary condition for production of commodities but it does not follow conversely, production of labour Is a necessary condition for division of labour. 11. Expenditure of brain and nerve(physical strength )these two different modes of expending human labour power - Marx focuses on labour in exchange value as units of simple labour that helps in creation of money form ........ Units of socially necessary labour power decide the prize of any commodity..... 12. Above mentioned all points are building blocks of capitalist society........ Thanks for reading
As an economics student you should focus on reading economists and economics texts. Das Capital is a work of fantasy/fiction, best left for writing or film students interested in how to create a fantasy world unrelated to facts, reality and logic. 👍
I am awed. Just thinking of how much someone put energy to this. This lady should get paid like a professor does at a university. I know it doesn't compensate, but at least for now, i can offer you my gratitude. 😊
This was a great recap prior to reading the next chapter! It made things easy to freshen within my mind prior to moving on while also clarifying any nuances I may have lost myself in
thank you for this! i've read most of the book but i'm more of a visual person so this is pretty helpful for filling in the parts that i wasn't able to accurately conceptualize
I tried reading Capital when I was 15 years old. I think I read about one page and didn't understand a thing! Didn't dare looking at it again until now, some 45 years later, and I'm ready to give it another try. Luckily for me there is this brilliant little youtube vid to help guide me through the first chapter of the book. Looking forward to watching more. Thank you.
I wish I'd seen this before I'd listened to chapter 1! I'll do it in the right order going forward. Thanks for the clever arrangement of vocab words, too! This is really well done.
This was SO helpful for me! Thank you so much! I'm in a master's level political economy course, which brings many new concepts to me, but this made the content easily digestible.
"The air we breathe doesn't have a value as a commodity" Capitalists: "Hold my beer!" That said, thank you very much for putting this video together. I can't seem to find very many unbiased resources that look at any of the Marx and later Leninist philosophies/ideologies without attaching the spectre of "Communism" to them, and being highly biased against them, presupposing that Capitalism is in fact how society should be modeled.
Glass has additional use value when i fight with my +1! Can throw it to the floor for drama! Very useful. Actually your explanation is very good. I finally get it.
Great explanation! You guys are doing a great service by making these concepts very much accessible! Really appreciate the effort and creativity. Thank you very much.
Excelent. Im an in-depth reader of Marx from Brazil. Thats the best online introduction to Das Kapital I've ever seen. Thank you very much for the effort.
I'm so excited to have a channel that is not only entertaining but informative with no bias ( that is in your face). Just subscribed and will try to like every video I can
Just found out about these series. Entertaining and educational. So far I have some issues with her understanding of money (money in Marx that is), but I'm definitely watching the other videos soon.
> a commodity is defined as an object that through its physical properties is able to satisfy some sort of human need and is additionally traded for something else thought of to be of equal value A commodity is not an "object". Service can also be a commodity. Also, commodity should be defined as something produced for exchange.Simply adding "satisfaction of some human need" as necessary quality can be misleading, as it suggests possibility of something that does not qualify as such - i.e. does not satisfy some human need in a way commodities do. For example, one can assume that raw materials are not "real" commodities, as they are not consumed by the immediate buyer. It is good that this bit is clarified later, but it does not excuse this mess. > my hair is tangled - here's commodity for that > I'm hungry - here's the ... here's the commodity for that If pizza is consumed by the immediate producer, it is production for use. I.e. pizza does not function as a commodity (ingredients might). Either way, it is not commodities that are presented here, but use-values (and specifically use-values of non-service variety). > so now Marx begins to lay out his theory of values That's not really *Marx's* theory of values. Marx even made multiple references to preceding economists, > there are three sorts of values for us to talk about > here use value, exchange value, and value There are two values: Use-Value and Exchange-Value. Marx is talking about Exchange-Value when he is talking about "Value". > first use values are the utility of the thing > the utility of a commodity is limited by the physical properties of that object and has no existence outside of that object This is literally *the opposite* of Marxist theory. Use-Value of commodity is determined *subjectively* - Use-Value is different for each person. There is no some special *inherent* - and imperceptible - value. I.e. it does depend on actual quality of goods/service, but it exists only outside of object (in the eye of the beholder, yes). For example: "His commodity possesses *for himself* no immediate use-value. Otherwise, he would not bring it to the market. It has use-value *for others*; but *for himself* its only direct use-value is that of being a depository of exchange-value, and, consequently, a means of exchange.[3] Therefore, he makes up his mind to part with it for commodities whose value in use is of service *to him*. All commodities are non-use-values *for their owners*, and use-values *for their non-owners*. Consequently, they must all change hands. But this change of hands is what constitutes their exchange, and the latter puts them in relation with each other as values, and realises them as values. Hence commodities must be realised as values before they can be realised as use-values." Karl Marx: [Capital Vol.1, Chapter II - Exchange](marxists.catbull.com/archive/marx/works/1867-c1/ch02.htm), 1867 The whole existence of the concept of Use-Value in Marxist theory is to demonstrate the difference between evaluation of commodities by different people, to account for the *personal* component of the exchange (and to permit Exchange-Value to be purely *social* factor). The idea that objects have inherent value - that cannot be measured, as it exists *independently from actual humans*, but still *somehow* "exists" - is a blatant Idealism. I.e. religious thinking that is the opposite of Marxist materialism that deals with the things as they actually exist. > I know that's a bit confusing Because it's *wrong*. > so let's think for a moment about this glass cup > so the utility of a glass cup for us is I can hold water and we can drink from it and it's able to do so because of the properties of glass > essentially that th water doesn't seep through the class and all over the floor > so those are the physical properties of the glass which allow it to become a utility for us So how the fuck does it become a utility if not through *being useful* to _specific_ humans for _specific_ purpose? If the utility is determined by specific situation, then why would it have some fixed value that "has no existence outside of that object"? > however the only reason it's being a utility because I'm actively taking the glass building up with water and drinking from it BECAUSE YOU _DESIRE_ THE UTILITY IT PROVIDES It doesn't matter what you are *doing* with it. > next let's look at exchange value Please, no. Stop. > exchange value as the value created entirely by humans and influenced by the quantity of the commodity Quality doesn't matter? I'm pretty sure that I'll pay more for commodities of higher quality. Maybe Marx had meant the Exchange-Value (i.e. price) - and not the commodity itself - when he was talking about quantity? No? Are you absolutely certain?
Thank you so much for producing this content!! It means a lot to me as a woman studying philosophy to see another woman engaging with the discipline. Almost all the philosophy youtubers are men, the western canon is all men, and the majority of my college professors are men. In my three years of undergrad I've only been taught by a woman once and now you through these videos. Not to exaggerate but seeing you present on Das Kapital made me feel represented, it might sound trivial but that's how it made me feel. Keep it up! :D
Thanks for making such useful video on the topic, concepts were explained in very understandable manner with good examples and overall video quality is very good..!!
Thank you for this. This is really helpful in understanding Capital. Just started reading it today after being inspired by Bhagat Singh’s writings. ❤️ P.s. this was witty too. You have good sense of humour. 👍
What evidence is there that people disregard qualitative aspects of commodities? Wouldn't exchange-value generally find itself affected by use-value through the law of supply and demand?
Not everyone disregards use-value, but if you're buying something because of its exchange-value you generally don't care about its use-value. It makes no difference to the merchant if he/she sells screwdrivers or pastries as long as the money (exchange-value) is right. Prices (exchange-values) are according to Marx at the equilibrium primarily determined by socially necessary labor-time (explained further in chapter 2&3), that's an area where he departs from classical economists, who say they're determined by supply and demand.
@@ChapterbyChapter Because proper economists describe everything differently. Merchants who buy or sell try to do so at a margin (to pay for their own effort). They may sell at a profit, they may have to sell at a loss. Marx is completely wrong in the way he describes economics.
@@ChapterbyChapter *In general when you see people talking about supply and demand bullshit you can be 100% sure they know nothing about Marxian economics and never even had the Capital in their hands. Supply and demand does not explain anything and it is completely useless. Supply and demand cannot explain why a car cost so much more than a shirt. Prof. David Harvey:* ua-cam.com/video/n5vu4MpYgUo/v-deo.html
@@Diamat1917 I'm reading Das Kapital for the second time. I've read other things Marx wrote as well as analysis by others. Marx has nothing to offer in economics.
Value is not the attribute of the commodity itself, but the private ownership of the means of production materializes the labor time of the produced commodity in the commodity, rather than directly expressed, so it is expressed as the value of the commodity
I have a question. Wouldn't the rock and hatchet example show that useful labor "increases" use values, rather than create them? I don't see how useful labor is the "source" of use-values if things CAN have use-values if they don't have useful-labor put into them.
The several forms of value expressed by Marx are to illustrate the labor time materialized in commodities. Under the public ownership of the means of production, the labor time for producing commodities will be directly expressed as social labor time, so the value of commodities will not exist.
They won't care though, they've already dismissed any theory of economy that even remotely left of centre. This video was eye-opening for me, especially with the realization that our modern Capitalist system completely dismisses use-value, which should be how we determine the value of something to a person or society as a whole. It would make everything infinitely more efficient for production, and help us focus on cutting down on labour investment.
@@deegodarkwulf1228 In a socialist system would you pay for things by use-value? i.e. What does the concept of use-value do in any practical sense? Marx doesn't explain supply and demand (perhaps he doesn't understand it).
They (socialists) don't. Page one of a real economics book tells you all about supply and demand. What does Marx's obscure division of different values of commodities help to explain? Nothing. It does nothing to explain how prices are set. Consequently, all attempts at Socialism fail with massive shortages of consumer goods and overproduction of state goods - ie people starve while the state churns out tanks. Also - read The Zima Confession.
@@ScripterMega I've read his crap already. He, and every Marxist country ever, has no clue when it comes to supply and demand and price mechanism. That's why factories churn out shit to meet targets while people beg for bread in the streets.
Hi! I'd love to make CC in Spanish and English. Can we get in touch? Maybe activate user submitted closed captions? Beautiful job! EDIT: Nevermind, it's activated. I'll do them :)
hey! Thanks so much! We will however take this chapter down and upload a new version of it on Monday the 15th (july), so please don't waste your time with this version. We'd love it if you could do it for the one coming out on the 15th though! edit: this version will be up indefinitely, so thanks for your great help!
I cannot find the quote at 7:05 of the video about bringing commodities to market in my edition of Kapital. Can you tell me which edition of Kapital you are reading from and what page your quote is on? I am following your Smith and Marx videos by reading the chapters at the same time and making notes. Thanks.
Oh shoot!! Turns out that wasn't supposed to be a quote (and is not a quote), but it got confused during post because the clip shows me holding a laptop. Thanks so much for this comment, or it would've gone unnoticed. Fixing it through UA-cam editor now, but may take a couple days (or weeks, come on Google...) to update. -L
@@ChapterbyChapter The good news from everyone's comments is that the community that you are building is paying attention and actively engaging with you and each other. Not just watching the videos passively. Take that as a compliment and an acknowledgement of how much your work is appreciated.
@@stephenhemingway9435 so true! The feedback has been extremely encouraging to us. We love the engagement, and pointing out errors in the videos is only going to make them better.
lovely, Thank you! What do you mean by "while analizing value don't forget about Use Value and the fundamental connection of commodities to nature as sth separete from exchange value"? What is the fundamental connection of commodities to Nature? regards from Brazil.
I cannot wait to watch this video with my partner, thank you so much comrade! We've both not read Capital yet and I think this will help us a lot. Wish you the best of luck in doing these summaries.
9:44 - When discussing useful labor, did you mean "quantitatively" and not "qualitatively"? "Useful labor: this difference in labor that gives these two commodities such {qualitatively} different values and if it wasn't for this difference in quality of Labor we wouldn't see such a big difference in their final values"
Comment comrades, if I watch this one instead of the David Harvey series while also reading the book, what would I be missing? I am liking this so far and 2h lectures are hard on my attention span, but maybe I should do it anyway?
Hey! For a more detailed and nuanced understanding, you should definitely watch the David Harvey series. Harvey is an expert and can offer a lot more historical and Marxist context to the text. I aimed to make a summary as digestible as possible, and believe our videos are best used to gain a very general understanding, which then makes approaching content like Harvey’s much easier. Hope this reply is of some help -L
@@ChapterbyChapter it does, thanks! I was stuck in the part of the book where Marx explains the different kinds of value (expanded, relative, general, equivalent, negative.... ugh). But now I have a better idea of it to structure the rest around it. It's a good point that I can start here now, and it will already put me on the path of a deeper understanding if I choose to pursue it later. Thanks for your effort in making this series!
One thing I'm curious about is how Marx accounts for market manipulation of price. If price is determined by the exchange value of commodities (or at least correlates with it), and exchange value is determined by congealed social labour in the abstract, what about when corporations artificially inflate the value of a commodity? For example, via advertisement campaigns, in the case of the wedding ring and diamond markets. The amount of labour time necessary to produce these commodities hasn't changed, but the demand for them has as a result of market manipulation. How is this reconciled in Marxian economic theory?
When you said that commodities are looked at for their quantitative characteristics and qualitative characteristics, for the quantitative portion, did you mean in terms of supply and demand? Like if there is more of it, it will be cheaper?
By quantitative characteristics, Marx means that the exchange value of a commodity must be measured in definite quantitative terms against some other commodity. One table is worth two chairs, two chairs are worth six vases, or whatever. Usually, the commodity against which we measure exchange is the money commodity. £100 buys you one table, or two chairs, or six vases. This is in contrast to the qualitative element of a commodity, its use-value, which has nothing to do with proportions or definite quantities, but the form of the commodity itself. A table's use-value is different from that of a curtain simply by virtue of the fact that a chair has different properties. These two dual elements of a commodity - qualitative and quantitative, use-value and exchange-value, are what defines a commodity. It must be exchangeable in some proportion with other commodities, and it must have some sort of utility.
Is there any way you could re-upload this series without the background music? Unfortunately, it is impossible for me to concentrate on the words that you are speaking. Thank you for all of your hard work.
Thanks for this simple breakdown. Can you help me understand a bit more? (I have a fun example!) So, if I understand, this first chapter of the first book (volume 1 of Das Kapital) is really just an explanation of terms. Is this somewhat correct? I have a question involving Star Wars Jedi that I'm hoping you can help me understand using ideas in this chapter. The way Jedi use the Force is by utilizing the midi-chlorian in their blood. Every Jedi has a different amount (and we know that Palpatine/Darth Sidious covets Anakin Skywalker because his blood has an obscene amount of midi-chlorian). Anakin is still, simply, a commodity.. just with higher use-value than other Jedi/Force-users. Am I thinking about this the right way?
what is the original German? Gebrauchswert, Tauschwert? In German "Wert" can mean value or worth [which is etymologically nearer to "Wert"]. So when you talk about "just value", do you mean Value or Worth or is user/exchange-value better translated as user- & exchange-worth or even worthy? I think these nuances are extremely important for an academic like Marx. At the very least, I think they should be considered & discussed
I'm mainly reading the German version of Das Kapital (mostly because my German is better than my English), but specific terms I do look up in the English translation in order to not translate differently and confuse someone who might read along in English. When I got to the different forms of value I was puzzled at first how to translate it into English, which is exactly the problem you're pointing out, as "Wert" can sometimes mean value and sometimes worth, although German doesn't seperate those two as strictly as English does, so there can be no exact translation anyways. In this case Lina used the term as written in the English translation, where they translated Gebrauchswert and Tauschwert into use-value and exchange-value.
![Lp. Сердце Вселенной #60 РОЖДЕНИЕ ЛОЛОЛОШКИ [Финал] • Майнкрафт](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/YoR0pAV9FVQ/mqdefault.jpg)
Finally, a theory channel for dumbasses like me who refuse to read
Hahaha we got you
Me too 😂😂
You should read!!!!
Lovely work! This is a great resource for beginners. Will you do all of the first volume of capital?
Yes! We will :)
Fantastic! Keep up the excellent work :)
@@YaBoiHakim Complete the series on "Wage Labour and Capital"
Dang, if Hakim endorses I know it's quality
HI HAKIM
I feel so much much better about my life after watching this. My brain melted down midway through chapter 3 and I didn't realise just how much tension had built up in my psyche that I couldn't get past it. I know it's no substitute for reading it but I feel now I can tackle it again with the basic parameters of what I'm reading set out. If I had any money I would seek out a way of giving some of it to you fine young people. Thank you!!!
saying? that you're missing the valuation of brain work .. or .. generally .. or .. yours / and what's the difference in between young and old in relation to melt-downs .. anyway, what is !really! your point here
@@JRWall-hf9mq yeah, just tell him that .. maybe by sms .. or email .. he might change his idea in his 19th century .. and tell him how much of academic soul you are and how capable to reenact people like him nowadays, dr. wall, or was against the wall .. what is more annoying substance or being out in the left field .. dr. wall likes to win easy
@@JRWall-hf9mq dr. judge mental .. in relation to the speed of light we are all retards .. sensitive? i don't like ignoramuses, am i sensitive then? well, yes, i'm a sensitive one.
I started reading das kapital a few days ago and was struggling a lot, but watching this alongside reading the book has made the material much more digestibl, this video was extremely helpful, thank you!
Very nice. This is a chapter I have struggled to understand for a long time and you have summarized it extremely professionally. I hope you will continue through all 3 volumes of Kapital.
thank you, we appreciate it!
"Yeah, we hope that trying to understand the whole book and not just a few soundbites will help people understand the underlying philosphy and maybe even make them think critically about the problems within the idiology around Marx. We'll see if this is possible given our short attention span (which I am also very guilty of, the internet really does change our brains haha)." - from their Reddit account
Yep that is our Reddit comment, thanks for bringing it up (although I did delete the other 3 times you copy-pasted this in our comment section, better to have this conversation in one place, otherwise it'll get confusing)! We do encourage thinking about these works critically (we should think critically about anything we read). Questioning and challenging ideas will not only make us think about them in depth, but will also lead to these ideas being improved. -R
edited because of spelling mistakes, sorry it's not my first language
This came at the perfect time, I’m currently struggling with the book and I was very happy to see this pop up. Keep up the good work comrade
same to me ish I understood the first chapter but this helps me fully understand.
Guys, I cannot stress that we, the viewers, supported the creators who offer so much value to us. Reward their labour!!!!
Does this count as reading theory? Trying to stop being a lib.
Bosuac Jafari i’d say you should read Kapital and also watch videos and consume other resources relating to the book as supplement. But reading the original text along with aides is probably best!
Close enough
you should read das kapital, IMO. but i understand if you don't want to (no everybody enjoys spending 10-15mini per page, although not everyone has to), I'm currently doing it, it's worth it if you take your time, write notes and review it. some friends and I have organized in a reading group to discuss each chapter, we've only been through the first, but it's fun and interesting. to see other opinions, sometimes things slip past you when you read.
Read/listen to Das Kapital, but this can help to understand it, I'd say.
Understanding the concepts is what's important.
Thank god I found you I just bought this book and i feel like I’m reading hieroglyphics. You’re hilarious and made it so easy to understand 🖤
You took the words out of my mouth.
I recommend this vid for those who want to learn the main points of Das Kapital. This is a time saver!
Thanks for this amazing video regarding commodity
I learnt from this
1. Difference between thing and commodity
2. What is commodity
3. Use value
4. Exchange value
5. Value - what we experience in exchange value , but marx wants to remember use value
6. Labor- twofold nature - a) it creates useful value in things
b) it helps in the creation of exchange value exchange
7. Labour time - how much socially necessary time is spent in producing an element of commodity
8. Useful labour - productive activity of a definite kind and exercised with a definite aim.
9. Social division of labour - different shorts of useful value for producing different shorts of use value of things creates a complex system known as socially division of labour .
10. Division of labour is a socially necessary condition for production of commodities but it does not follow conversely, production of labour Is a necessary condition for division of labour.
11. Expenditure of brain and nerve(physical strength )these two different modes of expending human labour power - Marx focuses on labour in exchange value as units of simple labour that helps in creation of money form ........
Units of socially necessary labour power decide the prize of any commodity.....
12. Above mentioned all points are building blocks of capitalist society........
Thanks for reading
Super well done; the review sessions in the middle of the video and timestamps with corresponding terms/ideas are really helpful!
As a new Economics student, I thank you!
Welcome to the community!
LOL
As an economics student you should focus on reading economists and economics texts. Das Capital is a work of fantasy/fiction, best left for writing or film students interested in how to create a fantasy world unrelated to facts, reality and logic. 👍
I am awed. Just thinking of how much someone put energy to this. This lady should get paid like a professor does at a university. I know it doesn't compensate, but at least for now, i can offer you my gratitude. 😊
These videos should be played in all high school economic classes.
Cannot wait for more of these. I literally take notes. My mind has been spurred
This was a great recap prior to reading the next chapter! It made things easy to freshen within my mind prior to moving on while also clarifying any nuances I may have lost myself in
pressed the rewind button for 23927 times in this video
a lot of thanks for the lesson !!
thank you for this! i've read most of the book but i'm more of a visual person so this is pretty helpful for filling in the parts that i wasn't able to accurately conceptualize
Glad to hear it! This is exactly what we’re hoping to help with
I tried reading Capital when I was 15 years old. I think I read about one page and didn't understand a thing! Didn't dare looking at it again until now, some 45 years later, and I'm ready to give it another try. Luckily for me there is this brilliant little youtube vid to help guide me through the first chapter of the book. Looking forward to watching more. Thank you.
Red salute
lal salaam comrade
I am 15 and trying to read and I kind of get it I highlight things I think are key ideas.
With this I can help look for those things.
Wait didnt you guys have that red scare thing
I wish I'd seen this before I'd listened to chapter 1! I'll do it in the right order going forward. Thanks for the clever arrangement of vocab words, too! This is really well done.
Useful bite sized summary. I'm buying the book, but don't fancy painstakingly reading every word! Thanks.
Okay!!! this channel is criminally underrated
This was SO helpful for me! Thank you so much! I'm in a master's level political economy course, which brings many new concepts to me, but this made the content easily digestible.
This is an absolutely great video for people to understand Marx- thank you 🙏🏻 I will be sharing whenever the situation arises!
"The air we breathe doesn't have a value as a commodity"
Capitalists: "Hold my beer!"
That said, thank you very much for putting this video together. I can't seem to find very many unbiased resources that look at any of the Marx and later Leninist philosophies/ideologies without attaching the spectre of "Communism" to them, and being highly biased against them, presupposing that Capitalism is in fact how society should be modeled.
people have a hard time separating the application device from the ideas.
Just a thought but aren't some of the biggest issues of pollution occurring in the air and most waters, which are by default public?
o'hare air
You worked hard for this straightforward informative video, with little humor in it, thank you !
Great video! It is tough to read and I am glad to have someone to help me along the way
Glass has additional use value when i fight with my +1! Can throw it to the floor for drama! Very useful. Actually your explanation is very good. I finally get it.
Great explanation! You guys are doing a great service by making these concepts very much accessible! Really appreciate the effort and creativity. Thank you very much.
Excelent. Im an in-depth reader of Marx from Brazil. Thats the best online introduction to Das Kapital I've ever seen. Thank you very much for the effort.
Great job red! You couldn’t have explained it any more eloquently/accurately.
It makes me feel like back to high school😂. I really hope my politics teacher can explain this as organized and logical as you do.
Too good. Please keep doing this
Thank you! I'm so happy I found this channel, great humor and great explanations on his theory in bite size chunks!
Excellent presentation! finally a beautiful commodity.... Thank you for your labor🥰
I'm so excited to have a channel that is not only entertaining but informative with no bias ( that is in your face). Just subscribed and will try to like every video I can
Just found out about these series. Entertaining and educational. So far I have some issues with her understanding of money (money in Marx that is), but I'm definitely watching the other videos soon.
this helped me get an A in my Marxist Theory class! Thank you so much!!
H a t c h e t
Awesome video, can't wait for more
Lmao ikr? Wtf
> a commodity is defined as an object that through its physical properties is able to satisfy some sort of human need and is additionally traded for something else thought of to be of equal value
A commodity is not an "object". Service can also be a commodity.
Also, commodity should be defined as something produced for exchange.Simply adding "satisfaction of some human need" as necessary quality can be misleading, as it suggests possibility of something that does not qualify as such - i.e. does not satisfy some human need in a way commodities do. For example, one can assume that raw materials are not "real" commodities, as they are not consumed by the immediate buyer. It is good that this bit is clarified later, but it does not excuse this mess.
> my hair is tangled - here's commodity for that
> I'm hungry - here's the ... here's the commodity for that
If pizza is consumed by the immediate producer, it is production for use. I.e. pizza does not function as a commodity (ingredients might).
Either way, it is not commodities that are presented here, but use-values (and specifically use-values of non-service variety).
> so now Marx begins to lay out his theory of values
That's not really *Marx's* theory of values. Marx even made multiple references to preceding economists,
> there are three sorts of values for us to talk about
> here use value, exchange value, and value
There are two values: Use-Value and Exchange-Value. Marx is talking about Exchange-Value when he is talking about "Value".
> first use values are the utility of the thing
> the utility of a commodity is limited by the physical properties of that object and has no existence outside of that object
This is literally *the opposite* of Marxist theory.
Use-Value of commodity is determined *subjectively* - Use-Value is different for each person. There is no some special *inherent* - and imperceptible - value.
I.e. it does depend on actual quality of goods/service, but it exists only outside of object (in the eye of the beholder, yes).
For example:
"His commodity possesses *for himself* no immediate use-value. Otherwise, he would not bring it to the market. It has use-value *for others*; but *for himself* its only direct use-value is that of being a depository of exchange-value, and, consequently, a means of exchange.[3] Therefore, he makes up his mind to part with it for commodities whose value in use is of service *to him*. All commodities are non-use-values *for their owners*, and use-values *for their non-owners*. Consequently, they must all change hands. But this change of hands is what constitutes their exchange, and the latter puts them in relation with each other as values, and realises them as values. Hence commodities must be realised as values before they can be realised as use-values."
Karl Marx: [Capital Vol.1, Chapter II - Exchange](marxists.catbull.com/archive/marx/works/1867-c1/ch02.htm), 1867
The whole existence of the concept of Use-Value in Marxist theory is to demonstrate the difference between evaluation of commodities by different people, to account for the *personal* component of the exchange (and to permit Exchange-Value to be purely *social* factor).
The idea that objects have inherent value - that cannot be measured, as it exists *independently from actual humans*, but still *somehow* "exists" - is a blatant Idealism. I.e. religious thinking that is the opposite of Marxist materialism that deals with the things as they actually exist.
> I know that's a bit confusing
Because it's *wrong*.
> so let's think for a moment about this glass cup
> so the utility of a glass cup for us is I can hold water and we can drink from it and it's able to do so because of the properties of glass
> essentially that th water doesn't seep through the class and all over the floor
> so those are the physical properties of the glass which allow it to become a utility for us
So how the fuck does it become a utility if not through *being useful* to _specific_ humans for _specific_ purpose?
If the utility is determined by specific situation, then why would it have some fixed value that "has no existence outside of that object"?
> however the only reason it's being a utility because I'm actively taking the glass building up with water and drinking from it
BECAUSE YOU _DESIRE_ THE UTILITY IT PROVIDES
It doesn't matter what you are *doing* with it.
> next let's look at exchange value
Please, no. Stop.
> exchange value as the value created entirely by humans and influenced by the quantity of the commodity
Quality doesn't matter? I'm pretty sure that I'll pay more for commodities of higher quality.
Maybe Marx had meant the Exchange-Value (i.e. price) - and not the commodity itself - when he was talking about quantity? No? Are you absolutely certain?
whatever truthfulness is in this is lost to most people in the bitchiness and smugness
Thank you so much for producing this content!! It means a lot to me as a woman studying philosophy to see another woman engaging with the discipline. Almost all the philosophy youtubers are men, the western canon is all men, and the majority of my college professors are men. In my three years of undergrad I've only been taught by a woman once and now you through these videos. Not to exaggerate but seeing you present on Das Kapital made me feel represented, it might sound trivial but that's how it made me feel. Keep it up! :D
Not trivial at all!! In fact this is one of my favorite comments so far. -L
Thanks for making such useful video on the topic, concepts were explained in very understandable manner with good examples and overall video quality is very good..!!
Thank you for this. This is really helpful in understanding Capital. Just started reading it today after being inspired by Bhagat Singh’s writings. ❤️
P.s. this was witty too. You have good sense of humour. 👍
What evidence is there that people disregard qualitative aspects of commodities? Wouldn't exchange-value generally find itself affected by use-value through the law of supply and demand?
Not everyone disregards use-value, but if you're buying something because of its exchange-value you generally don't care about its use-value. It makes no difference to the merchant if he/she sells screwdrivers or pastries as long as the money (exchange-value) is right.
Prices (exchange-values) are according to Marx at the equilibrium primarily determined by socially necessary labor-time (explained further in chapter 2&3), that's an area where he departs from classical economists, who say they're determined by supply and demand.
@@ChapterbyChapter Because proper economists describe everything differently. Merchants who buy or sell try to do so at a margin (to pay for their own effort). They may sell at a profit, they may have to sell at a loss. Marx is completely wrong in the way he describes economics.
@@iainmrodgers9991 *You've never read anything what Marx wrote. Marx was 100% right in th e way he describes economics*
@@ChapterbyChapter *In general when you see people talking about supply and demand bullshit you can be 100% sure they know nothing about Marxian economics and never even had the Capital in their hands. Supply and demand does not explain anything and it is completely useless. Supply and demand cannot explain why a car cost so much more than a shirt. Prof. David Harvey:*
ua-cam.com/video/n5vu4MpYgUo/v-deo.html
@@Diamat1917 I'm reading Das Kapital for the second time. I've read other things Marx wrote as well as analysis by others. Marx has nothing to offer in economics.
I can see this channel growing huge
You're an amazing teacher
Value is not the attribute of the commodity itself, but the private ownership of the means of production materializes the labor time of the produced commodity in the commodity, rather than directly expressed, so it is expressed as the value of the commodity
I still think social labor is the real value, but it is not quantifiable. It’s basically tradition.
Thank you so much for making this video! Much appreciated
I have a question. Wouldn't the rock and hatchet example show that useful labor "increases" use values, rather than create them? I don't see how useful labor is the "source" of use-values if things CAN have use-values if they don't have useful-labor put into them.
You really helped me understand this tricky topic. Thank you!
Clear, concise and insightful. Thanks a lot!
The several forms of value expressed by Marx are to illustrate the labor time materialized in commodities. Under the public ownership of the means of production, the labor time for producing commodities will be directly expressed as social labor time, so the value of commodities will not exist.
Thank God! Found a way to sort of understand. The book is brutal. Wish me luck 🤞
this really saves me the time to read and struggle to understand the whole chapter.
Next time someone says "Socialists don't understand basic economics" I'm going to show them this video.
They won't care though, they've already dismissed any theory of economy that even remotely left of centre.
This video was eye-opening for me, especially with the realization that our modern Capitalist system completely dismisses use-value, which should be how we determine the value of something to a person or society as a whole. It would make everything infinitely more efficient for production, and help us focus on cutting down on labour investment.
A New Perspective Films Capitalists don’t understand the concept of bribery.
@@deegodarkwulf1228 In a socialist system would you pay for things by use-value? i.e. What does the concept of use-value do in any practical sense? Marx doesn't explain supply and demand (perhaps he doesn't understand it).
They (socialists) don't. Page one of a real economics book tells you all about supply and demand. What does Marx's obscure division of different values of commodities help to explain? Nothing. It does nothing to explain how prices are set. Consequently, all attempts at Socialism fail with massive shortages of consumer goods and overproduction of state goods - ie people starve while the state churns out tanks.
Also - read The Zima Confession.
@@ScripterMega I've read his crap already. He, and every Marxist country ever, has no clue when it comes to supply and demand and price mechanism. That's why factories churn out shit to meet targets while people beg for bread in the streets.
Thanks!
Thank you for making such a great video keep up the good work
does anyone know which page/section the quote at 10:31 is on? i wanna highlight it but can’t find it to save my life.
Hi! I'd love to make CC in Spanish and English. Can we get in touch? Maybe activate user submitted closed captions? Beautiful job!
EDIT: Nevermind, it's activated. I'll do them :)
hey! Thanks so much! We will however take this chapter down and upload a new version of it on Monday the 15th (july), so please don't waste your time with this version. We'd love it if you could do it for the one coming out on the 15th though!
edit: this version will be up indefinitely, so thanks for your great help!
@@ChapterbyChapter Okay! I read this too late but no problem. I'll do them on the next version! :)
@@josublanco4950 thank you, we really apprechiate it!
thank you so much!! this truly saved my life when it comes to my social theory class. amazing work!
Awesome explanation 👌👌👌
great work!
Knowing that value is labor is not difficult, the question is why labor is expressed as the value of goods
I cannot find the quote at 7:05 of the video about bringing commodities to market in my edition of Kapital. Can you tell me which edition of Kapital you are reading from and what page your quote is on? I am following your Smith and Marx videos by reading the chapters at the same time and making notes. Thanks.
Oh shoot!! Turns out that wasn't supposed to be a quote (and is not a quote), but it got confused during post because the clip shows me holding a laptop. Thanks so much for this comment, or it would've gone unnoticed. Fixing it through UA-cam editor now, but may take a couple days (or weeks, come on Google...) to update. -L
@@ChapterbyChapter The good news from everyone's comments is that the community that you are building is paying attention and actively engaging with you and each other. Not just watching the videos passively. Take that as a compliment and an acknowledgement of how much your work is appreciated.
@@stephenhemingway9435 so true! The feedback has been extremely encouraging to us. We love the engagement, and pointing out errors in the videos is only going to make them better.
Helped a lot! Thank you!
Thank god this video was uploaded my old ass german was getting rusty
lovely, Thank you!
What do you mean by "while analizing value don't forget about Use Value and the fundamental connection of commodities to nature as sth separete from exchange value"?
What is the fundamental connection of commodities to Nature?
regards from Brazil.
AMAZING!!! great work, thanks :)
Thank you so much for this!
I cannot wait to watch this video with my partner, thank you so much comrade! We've both not read Capital yet and I think this will help us a lot. Wish you the best of luck in doing these summaries.
Holy moly, this is outstanding. Thank you so much!!!!!
Do you have a video summary on Marx and Engels German Ideologies?
We unfortunately don’t
@@ChapterbyChapter id love to suggest it for the future. You make understanding theory so much easier. Ty
love for you from Bangladesh.
9:44 - When discussing useful labor, did you mean "quantitatively" and not "qualitatively"?
"Useful labor: this difference in labor that gives these two commodities such {qualitatively} different values and if it wasn't for this difference in quality of Labor we wouldn't see such a big difference in their final values"
Comment comrades, if I watch this one instead of the David Harvey series while also reading the book, what would I be missing? I am liking this so far and 2h lectures are hard on my attention span, but maybe I should do it anyway?
Hey! For a more detailed and nuanced understanding, you should definitely watch the David Harvey series. Harvey is an expert and can offer a lot more historical and Marxist context to the text. I aimed to make a summary as digestible as possible, and believe our videos are best used to gain a very general understanding, which then makes approaching content like Harvey’s much easier. Hope this reply is of some help -L
@@ChapterbyChapter it does, thanks! I was stuck in the part of the book where Marx explains the different kinds of value (expanded, relative, general, equivalent, negative.... ugh). But now I have a better idea of it to structure the rest around it. It's a good point that I can start here now, and it will already put me on the path of a deeper understanding if I choose to pursue it later. Thanks for your effort in making this series!
I just finished writing a wordy article on the theory of value! This is so much more, well, graphic and dramatic. Kudos.
One thing I'm curious about is how Marx accounts for market manipulation of price. If price is determined by the exchange value of commodities (or at least correlates with it), and exchange value is determined by congealed social labour in the abstract, what about when corporations artificially inflate the value of a commodity? For example, via advertisement campaigns, in the case of the wedding ring and diamond markets. The amount of labour time necessary to produce these commodities hasn't changed, but the demand for them has as a result of market manipulation. How is this reconciled in Marxian economic theory?
Love this video ⚒️🛠️⚒️🛠️
a m a z i n'
When you said that commodities are looked at for their quantitative characteristics and qualitative characteristics, for the quantitative portion, did you mean in terms of supply and demand? Like if there is more of it, it will be cheaper?
By quantitative characteristics, Marx means that the exchange value of a commodity must be measured in definite quantitative terms against some other commodity. One table is worth two chairs, two chairs are worth six vases, or whatever. Usually, the commodity against which we measure exchange is the money commodity. £100 buys you one table, or two chairs, or six vases. This is in contrast to the qualitative element of a commodity, its use-value, which has nothing to do with proportions or definite quantities, but the form of the commodity itself. A table's use-value is different from that of a curtain simply by virtue of the fact that a chair has different properties. These two dual elements of a commodity - qualitative and quantitative, use-value and exchange-value, are what defines a commodity. It must be exchangeable in some proportion with other commodities, and it must have some sort of utility.
Thanks from Bengaluru, India
Excellent presentation! 😍
Is there any way you could re-upload this series without the background music? Unfortunately, it is impossible for me to concentrate on the words that you are speaking. Thank you for all of your hard work.
😂 good thing I found this tomorrow my final and I couldn't find my professors lecture daym
all i can say is thank you and please keep making videos! haha💕
This is brilliant!! Thank you SO much ☺
I read chapters multiple times with no understanding .. now I could correlate
this really helped a lot. thank you.
I wish there was no music on the background. can't focus :(
Omg I love your video very educational and funny at the same time
Thanks for this simple breakdown. Can you help me understand a bit more? (I have a fun example!)
So, if I understand, this first chapter of the first book (volume 1 of Das Kapital) is really just an explanation of terms. Is this somewhat correct? I have a question involving Star Wars Jedi that I'm hoping you can help me understand using ideas in this chapter. The way Jedi use the Force is by utilizing the midi-chlorian in their blood. Every Jedi has a different amount (and we know that Palpatine/Darth Sidious covets Anakin Skywalker because his blood has an obscene amount of midi-chlorian). Anakin is still, simply, a commodity.. just with higher use-value than other Jedi/Force-users. Am I thinking about this the right way?
Is there a way to discuss this first chapter through the lense of Star Wars / Anakin+Palpatine's relationship ? Thank you!
Thank you so much this is so helpful
Omg finally! Been looking for something like this
Good work on the video.
what is the original German? Gebrauchswert, Tauschwert? In German "Wert" can mean value or worth [which is etymologically nearer to "Wert"]. So when you talk about "just value", do you mean Value or Worth or is user/exchange-value better translated as user- & exchange-worth or even worthy? I think these nuances are extremely important for an academic like Marx. At the very least, I think they should be considered & discussed
I'm mainly reading the German version of Das Kapital (mostly because my German is better than my English), but specific terms I do look up in the English translation in order to not translate differently and confuse someone who might read along in English.
When I got to the different forms of value I was puzzled at first how to translate it into English, which is exactly the problem you're pointing out, as "Wert" can sometimes mean value and sometimes worth, although German doesn't seperate those two as strictly as English does, so there can be no exact translation anyways. In this case Lina used the term as written in the English translation, where they translated Gebrauchswert and Tauschwert into use-value and exchange-value.
oh btw, this is Raphi, I forgot to sign
-R
amazing! I love your videos. so funny, smart easy to understand. great work
Thank you!!
I don’t think you people who watch this or Marx knew simple economics.
Things will just “happen”!
Workers know best!
thank you thank you so much for making these!
Awesome video!