i wanna make sure i understand marx correctly because i'm kind of a working class dumbass who got brain damage playing sports as a kid:
1: labor creates value (AKA socially necessary labor time needed to produce a commodity)
2: a commodity is an item with a use value and exchange value
3: use values can be found in nature, but require labor to harvest. i.e. a fruit has use value (food) but in order for someone to eat it someone must find it, pick it, wash it, prepare it, present it, which is all useful labor that goes into determining the fruit's exchange value.
4: it takes a certain amount of time to find, pick, wash, and prepare a fruit. The average amount of time it takes to do this is the socially necessary labor time, which is the value of the fruit.
5: exchange values are not prices, but price is the realization of exchange value, with many other factors affecting it
6: Machines reduce the amount of socially necessary labor time needed to produce a commodity, thus lowering the exchange value of the commodity
7: Machines represent crystallized labor. The labor needed to produce a labor-saving machine is the value of the machine.
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