Foch use to fish
* ummer, usually
=" voyages every
& to which places
2 oast of Canady
ere unto it are
‘om those coun-
on 400 saile of
that each ship
catch worth, on
> 30, he’'remarked:
= ertainly in my
3 a point worthy

be raised, by
m oodity ‘of that

‘hich must needs
—e imployments
“riches to your
ects. And -.this
- gathered and
& y the sole labor
* 2? men... And
;0 be considered
2 thither -doth
worke and re-
'nbers of people
» ewers, coopers,
: smiths, net-
-uakers, hooke-
-iaker and many
= rich their fam-
'. best meanes of
fom these New-
ges.”

5

ARNE, writing
- centuries ago,
Pis a picture of a
in the produc-
ge of commodi-
Provides us with
-t the discovery
) Europeans was
Fced with the rise
commodity pro-
[; is the founda-
= resent day capi-
| we need to
i= closely. ;

ich has “bakers,
"s, ship-carpen-
ete. is one in
already a wide-
ivision of labor.
d.sion of labor

of Study for Socialism

1ENCE OF SOCIETY
at Is Socialism ?
| Goods For Sale

Fone Mr. Richard Whitboarne wrote a “‘Dis-
fe fisheries of the Western Atlantic, which by
©. flourishing for close to a century. He wrote
- (cod) which the French, Biscaines, and Por-
F-eerely from this coast of Newfoundland and
Paich lieth within 25 leagues of that country

1 that so great ~

(which started with the separa-
tion of handicrafts from agri-
culture) leads to a growing ex-
change of products. In the
place of the self-sufficient fam-
ily economy, raising its own
food supply, making its’ own
clothing and simple imple
ments of production,: there is
specialization, and production
of goods for the purpose of sell-
ing them, for exchange on the
market-place. These goods are
commodities: things that have
the quality of usefulness, pro-
duced for sale.

On what basis does the ex-
change of commodities take
place? What is the “common
denominator” that underlies the
exchange of given quantities of
goods for each other? What

, have hats and houses, bricks

and cars and bread in common?
“Tf,” says Marx, “we leave out
of consideration the use-value
of commodities, they have only
one common property left, that
of bting products of labor.”
Engels tells how the Rhineland
peasants of his day exchanged
their products on the basis of
the labor-time that they spent
on them, as the ‘only suitable
meesure” for exchange. It is
the labor. embodied in commo-
dities that is the “‘common de-
nominator.” It is this labor —
“the sole labor and industry of
men”’—that gives them their
exchange value. Marx put it
this way: ‘As values, all com-
modities are only _ definite
masses of congealed  labor-
time.” A commodity, then, has
a twofold, double-faced charac-
ter: from one angle, it has util-
ity, and from another, ex-
change-value (or, Simply,
value). Its buyer is concerned
with it as an object that satis-
fies some ‘want, with its use-
fulness; its seller is concerned
rather with its exchange value,
with what it can bring in on the
market.

We shall find that this con-

materials

i

€ panying outlines prepared by LPP National
!irector are designed both for individual and
yA growing number of people in British Co-
“iger to understand the Marxist approach to
is and will welcome the outlines as a regu-
the paper. Simply written and rich in illus-
utlines are prepared specially for individuals
eng their first introduction to the science of
Stions and comments will be welcomed and
sf will be supplied on request.
43 all enquiries to:

MINERVA COOPER,
Provincial Educational Director,
209 Shelly Building, Vancouver, B.C.

ACIFIC ADVOCATE

:
j Ds ye

8

tradictory character of the
make-up of commodities under-
lies all the other, explosive con-
tradictions of present-day so-
ciety.

Labor, in a commodity econ-
omy, also has a twofold charac-
ter. The work of a tailor, a ma-
chinist and a farm-hand gives
us suits, turbines, crops — im
other words, use-values. But as
“labor in general’, as part of
the productive work of society
as a whole, their work creates
the exchange-value of those
various commodities. This value,
made up of definite amounts
of labor-time, aittachles to
things, and appears in the mar-
ket as a quality of their own,
dwelling within them: the hat
and the house are each

“worth”? so-and-so much. Under- -

lying that “worth” is the labor
of many people, which meets in
the exchange of their products.
Value, actually, is a relation
between people —a social rela-
tion. But it finds expression in
terms of things.

The value of commodities is
determined by the labor-time
that is required for its produc-
tion — the “socially necessary”
labor-time. “The labor-time so-
cially necessary is that re-
quired to produce an article un-
der the normal conditions of
production, and with the aver-
age degree of skill and inten-
sity prevalent at the time.”
(Note: Skilled labor counts as
multiplied simple or unskilled
labor. This fact is reflected in
wage-rates; so far we have
been discussing only labor, and
not the “reward” for labor,
which, as we shall see, is quite
another matter!)

The American Indians, in the
course of developing the ex-
change of products, used wam-
pum, or shell-beads, as money.
Other peoples used cowhides—
and later, metallic coins. Money
is a commodity which becomes
accepted as the common meas-

Conducted by
@ National Educational Director

STANLEY

;

B. RYERSON

human labor,

commodity to commodity.

Flew Real is Value?

The value of -commodities is the very opposite of
the coarse materiality of their substance, not an atom
of matter enters into its composition. Turn and examine
a single commodity, by itself, as we will. Yet in so far
as it remains an object of value, it seems impossible
to grasp. lf, however, we bear in mind that the value
of commodities has a purely social reality, and that they
acquire this reality only in so far as they are expressions
or embodiments of one identical social substance, viz.,
it follows as a matter of course, that
value can only manifest itself in the social relation of

Capital, Vol. I, p. 55.

ure and intermediary, by means
of which other commodities can
be exchanged on the market. It
serves as both a measure of
value and a medium of ex-
change: as an agent of com-
modity circulation.

Price is the expression of
value in terms of money: it in-
dicates the proportions, the
ratio, in which commodities can
be exchanged for each other. It
is the monetary expression of
value—of crystallized. labor-
time.

Price is a “peculiar form as-
sumed by value.” Peculiar in
this sense, that prices fluctuate
above and below the actual
values in response to supply
and demand on the open mar-
ket. It is only when supply and,
demand are equal, and ‘ cover”
each other, that the market
price coincides with the actual
value of the commodity. But
far from being a disadvantage,
this “semi-detached”?  connec-
tion between price and value
answers the need of a planless
market, where fluctuations of
price provide the only available
signals for the producers to go
by.

Note: We are speaking here
of a simple commodity econo-
my, out of which capitalism
ultimately grows; capitalism,
and particularly present-day

monopoly - capitalism, intro-
duces new, complicating fac-
tors, some of which we'll go
into later. But the exchange of
commodities — and hence the
law of value—was in operation
from “a time before all written
history, which in Egypt goes

back to at least 3,500 B.C., and
perhaps 5,000 B.C., and in Ba-
bylonia to 4,000 B.C. and per-
haps 6,000 B.C.’ (Engels).

P.S. This will probably turn
out to have been the most dif-
ficult instalment in our course.
So take it slowly, and read the
fuller, and clearer explanations
in the suggested reading. This
is at most a very bare sum-
mary.

Reading: K...Marx: Value,
Price and Profit,-Chapter VI.

Lenin: Teachings of K. Marx
(Progress Edition) pp. 34-36.

K. Marx: Capital, Vol. 1,
Chapter 1, Sections 1, 2 and 4
(Kerr Edition, pp. 41-55 and
81- 96).

Questions:
1. What are commodities?
What commodities played a

particularly important part in

early trade in the New World?

2. Discuss “value”. -

3. What is money?

4. What is the relation of
price and exchange value in a
simple commodity economy?

EAM Hope

Since have formed a Greek gov-
ernment, as it was the real
power throughout Greece until
the Varkiza agreement.

The defeat never shook its
hold over the working class or
over the majority of the peas-
ants although it did weaken
and intimidate many middle-
class and intellectual support-
ers on whom the atrocity pro-
paganda had an appreciable ef-
fect.

The reign of terror under the
“service’’ government, the
growing economic crisis, the
failure to cope with reconstruc-
tion; all these have caused
waverers to return to the EAM
as the only hope of national re-
covery.

EAM VICTORIES

_ Proof of this is to be seen in
the sweeping victories of the
EAM in trade union and agri-
cultural cooperative elections
and enormous demonstrations
which celebrated the fourth an-

niversary of the EAM.

The Athens meeting attend-

Of Greeks

ed by something like two hun-
dred thousand ineluding those
who were unable to enter or ap-
proach the stadium was note-
worthy for representation of all
classes and conditions of people
Not a man or woman attend-
ed without thought in his mind
that he might be shot at or
later be beaten or victimized.
The government forbade civil
servants, members of forces
and clergy from taking part.
ROYALIST HOOLIGANS
- Later I saw several Royalits
demonstrations in Tripolis,
Corinth and Athens protesting
against the fall of the Voul-
garis government. They were
given official support. Royalist
hooligans ensured closing of
shops and national guardsmen
openly took part. Nevertheless
they were feeble. The only vo-
eal and active demonstrators
were a few hundred youths of
the hooligan type who looked
as if they were paid for their
display of violence and enthusi-
asm.

Cont.

The Royalists would never
dare attempt a meeting in the
Athens stadium because ex-
posure of their weakness would
be too obvious. Their strength
is derived from British support,
penetration of armed forces
and terrorism of their armed
gangsters. .

The confidence and heroism
of EAM leaders and supporters
under these conditions is mag-
nificent. I have seen nothing
more inspiring than the morale
of the EAM prisoners in jails
which would have disgraced
even the Ottoman Empire.

In the workingelass suburbs
Communism is the only politi-
cal creed. I doubt if there is an-
other capitalist country whose
workingelass is so politically
mature or so united.

With such massive support
the EAM could easily deal with
the capitalist minority if the
British forces were withdrawn.
Certainly Britain could easily
stop the terror in a few hours
if it wanted to.

SATURDAY NOVEMBER 17, 1945 —