#KarlMarx never heard of Amazon or McDonaldâs.
But his 150-year-old theory explains exactly how they operateâand why workers stay broke while billionaires get richer.
Hereâs how Marxism maps perfectly onto modern capitalism:
đ Surplus Value
Workers at Amazon or McDonaldâs create way more value than theyâre paid.
That gapâthe extra value they produce but donât getâis what Marx called surplus value.
Thatâs where profit comes from. Not innovation. Labor.
đŠ Amazon
A warehouse worker might pick, pack, and ship hundreds of orders per shift.
They get paid $17/hour.
But that labor creates thousands in revenue.
The surplus flows upâto Bezos, to investors, to stock buybacks.
đ McDonaldâs
Same thing. Workers flip burgers, take orders, keep things running.
But wages stay low while corporate pockets profits.
Each shift generates value far beyond what workers take home.
đ Exploitation Isnât a Buzzword
Itâs a formula:
Value produced â wages paid = profit for the owner
The smaller your cut, the higher theirs.
Thatâs not broken. Thatâs the system working exactly as designed.
đ€ Mechanization
Amazon loves automation. Fewer workers, faster output.
Marx saw this coming too:
As machines take over, unemployment rises â labor becomes cheaper â profits increase.
đ§ Alienation
In both jobs, workers have no say in what they produce, how they produce it, or what it means.
Youâre a cog in a machine.
Thatâs Marxâs concept of alienationâyour work doesnât belong to you.
đ„ Crisis Ahead?
Marx believed capitalism would eventually collapse under its contradictions.
Soaring profits + sinking wages = rising unrest.
Sound familiar?
TL;DR:
Amazon and McDonaldâs donât just prove Marx right.
Theyâre the playbook for how modern capitalism squeezes the many to enrich the few.
Follow for more & remember,
âThe worker becomes all the poorer the more wealth he produces.â
â Karl Marx
