How Marx Thinks About the Origins of the First Commodity:

• Labor as the Source of Value:

Commodities originate from human labor applied to nature, producing goods to meet basic needs (use-values).

• Surplus Production and Exchange:

Surplus goods (beyond immediate consumption) enabled early societies to engage in barter (Commodity-Commodity, W-W), exchanging excess for other goods.

• Transition to Exchange-Value:

As trade expanded, goods gained exchange-value, representing their worth relative to other goods.

• Role of Money:

Money (G) emerged later as a universal medium of exchange when barter systems became more complex.

• Key Idea:

The first commodity was created through labor and surplus production in pre-capitalist societies, not through money or capital.

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