CAPITALISM 101

CAPITALISM

a particular and historical

economic system that is different
from hunter-gatherer society or
feudalism

associated with the development of

‘bourgeois’ society
CAPITAL
the means of production,
especially when these means are
owned in a centralized way (e.g.
by a capitalist).

THE CAPITALIST
the employer of labor

OR

the owner of the means of

production
OTHER NAMES FOR CAPITALISM

free private
enterprise enterprise
 THE SYSTEM OF WAGE-LABOR

Wage the sum of money the

capitalist pays to the
worker for a certain
amount/period of work
d

Labor Power
The thing that the worker sells
to the capitalist--their capacity
to do work
 EXPLOITATION 3. Thus, especially when a worker is
efficient, their labor power creates surplus
1. The capitalist pays the worker the wage
required to maintain the worker’s labor value for the capitalist.
power (e.g. to keep them showing up to work
4. The capitalist takes the surplus value created
and working their whole shift).
by the worker and pockets it as profit, or

promises to reinvest it in the business. Either

2. The worker’s time is contracted, not their
specific contribution to the production of each way it is appropriated away from the worker.
thing the capitalist is trying to produce. If
they finish the work on a thing early, then
***This whole cycle is what
they start work on another afterward, and so
historical materialist sociologists
on until the shift is finished.
call EXPLOITATION.***
ALIENATION This specific process of breaking up the
relationship between the worker and the
products of their labor is called alienation.
Fran Drescher delivers fiery speech against
Hollywood studios as actors strike
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fstz6rLFqyE

See also Season 4, Episode 16

“Bar Association” of Star Trek:
Deep Space Nine J