Value,therefore,beingtheactivefactorinsuchaprocess,andassumingatonetimetheformofmoney,atanotherthatofcommodities,butthroughallthesechangespreservingitselfandexpanding,itrequiressomeindependentform,bymeansofwhichitsidentitymayatanytimebeestablished。Andthisformitpossessesonlyintheshapeofmoney。Itisundertheformofmoneythatvaluebeginsandends,andbeginsagain,everyactofitsownspontaneousgeneration。Itbeganbybeing£100,itisnow£110,andsoon。Butthemoneyitselfisonlyoneofthetwoformsofvalue。
Unlessittakestheformofsomecommodity,itdoesnotbecomecapital。
Thereisherenoantagonism,asinthecaseofhoarding,betweenthemoneyandcommodities。Thecapitalistknowsthatallcommodities,howeverscurvytheymaylook,orhoweverbadlytheymaysmell,areinfaithandintruthmoney,inwardlycircumcisedJews,andwhatismore,awonderfulmeanswherebyoutofmoneytomakemoremoney。
Insimplecirculation,C—M—C,thevalueofcommoditiesattainedatthemostaformindependentoftheiruse—values,i。e。,theformofmoney;
butthatsamevaluenowinthecirculationM—C—M,orthecirculationofcapital,suddenlypresentsitselfasanindependentsubstance,endowedwithamotionofitsown,passingthroughalife—processofitsown,inwhichmoneyandcommoditiesaremereformswhichitassumesandcastsoffinturn。Nay,more:insteadofsimplyrepresentingtherelationsofcommodities,itentersnow,sotosay,intoprivaterelationswithitself。
Itdifferentiatesitselfasoriginalvaluefromitselfassurplus—value;
asthefatherdifferentiateshimselffromhimselfquâtheson,yetbothareoneandofoneage:foronlybythesurplus—valueof£10
doesthe£100originallyadvancedbecomecapital,andsosoonasthistakesplace,sosoonastheson,andbytheson,thefather,isbegotten,sosoondoestheirdifferencevanish,andtheyagainbecomeone,£110。
Valuethereforenowbecomesvalueinprocess,moneyinprocess,and,assuch,capital。Itcomesoutofcirculation,entersintoitagain,preservesandmultipliesitselfwithinitscircuit,comesbackoutofitwithexpandedbulk,andbeginsthesameroundeverafresh。[14]M—M’,moneywhichbegetsmoney,suchisthedescriptionofCapitalfromthemouthsofitsfirstinterpreters,theMercantilists。
Buyinginordertosell,or,moreaccurately,buyinginordertoselldearer,M—C—M’,appearscertainlytobeaformpeculiartoonekindofcapitalalone,namely,merchants’capital。Butindustrialcapitaltooismoney,thatischangedintocommodities,andbythesaleofthesecommodities,isre—convertedintomoremoney。Theeventsthattakeplaceoutsidethesphereofcirculation,intheintervalbetweenthebuyingandselling,donotaffecttheformofthismovement。Lastly,inthecaseofinterest—bearingcapital,thecirculationM—C—M’appearsabridged。Wehaveitsresultwithouttheintermediatestage,intheformM—M’,"enstylelapidaire"sotosay,moneythatisworthmoremoney,valuethatisgreaterthanitself。
M—C—M’isthereforeinrealitythegeneralformulaofcapitalasitappearsprimafaciewithinthesphereofcirculation。
Footnotes[1]Thecontrastbetweenthepower,basedonthepersonalrelationsofdominionandservitude,thatisconferredbylandedproperty,andtheimpersonalpowerthatisgivenbymoney,iswellexpressedbythetwoFrenchproverbs,"Nulleterresansseigneur,"and"L’argentn’apasdemaître。"
[2]"AvecdeI’argentonachètedesmarchandisesetavecdesmarchandisesonachètedeI’argent。"(MercierdelaRivière:"L’ordrenatureletessentieldessociétéspolitiques,"p。543。)
[3]"Whenathingisboughtinordertobesoldagain,thesumemployediscalledmoneyadvanced;whenitisboughtnottobesold,itmaybesaidtobeexpended。"?(JamesSteuart:"Works,"&c。EditedbyGen。SirJamesSteuart,hisson。Lond。,1805,V。I。,p。274。)
[4]"Onn’échangepasdeI’argentcontredeI’argent,"saysMercierdelaRivièretotheMercantilists(l。c。,p。486。)Inawork,which,exprofessotreatsof"trade"and"speculation,"occursthefollowing:
"Alltradeconsistsintheexchangeofthingsofdifferentkinds;andtheadvantage"(tothemerchant?)"arisesoutofthisdifference。Toexchangeapoundofbreadagainstapoundofbread……wouldbeattendedwithnoadvantage;……Hencetradeisadvantageouslycontrastedwithgambling,whichconsistsinamereexchangeofmoneyformoney。"(Th。Corbet,"AnInquiryintotheCausesandModesoftheWealthofIndividuals;orthePrinciplesofTradeandSpeculationExplained。"London,1841,p。5。)AlthoughCorbetdoesnotseethatM—M,theexchangeormoneyformoney,isthecharacteristicformofcirculation,notonlyofmerchants’capitalbutofallcapital,yetatleastheacknowledgesthatthisformiscommontogamblingandtoonespeciesoftrade,viz。,speculation:butthencomesMacCullochandmakesout,thattobuyinordertosell,istospeculate,andthusthedifferencebetweenSpeculationandTradevanishes。"Everytransactioninwhichanindividualbuysproduceinordertosellitagain,is,infact,aspeculation。"(MacCulloch:"ADictionaryPractical,&c。,ofCommerce。"
Lond。,1847,p。1009。)Withmuchmorenaiveté,Pinto,thePindaroftheAmsterdamStockExchange,remarks,"Lecommerceestunjeu:(takenfromLocke)etcen’estpasavecdesgueuxqu’onpeutgagner。Sil’ongagnaitlongtempsentoutavectous,ilfaudraitrendredebonaccordlesplusgrandespartiesduprofitpourrecommencerlejeu。"(Pinto:"Traité
delaCirculationetduCrédit。"Amsterdam,1771。p。231,)
[5]"Capitalisdivisible……intotheoriginalcapitalandtheprofit,theincrementtothecapital……althoughinpracticethisprofitisimmediatelyturnedintocapital,andsetinmotionwiththeoriginal。"(F。Engels,"UmrissezueinerKritikderNationalökonomie,in:Deutsch—FranzösischeJahrbücher,herausgegebenvonArnoldRugeundKarlMarx。"Paris,1844,p。99。)
[6]AristotleopposesOeconomictoChrematistic。Hestartsfromtheformer。
Sofarasitistheartofgainingalivelihood,itislimitedtoprocuringthosearticlesthatarenecessarytoexistence,andusefuleithertoahouseholdorthestate。"Truewealth([greek:]oalethinosploutos)consistsofsuchvaluesinuse;forthequantityofpossessionsofthiskind,capableofmakinglifepleasant,isnotunlimited。Thereis,however,asecondmodeofacquiringthings,towhichwemaybypreferenceandwithcorrectnessgivethenameofChrematistic,andinthiscasethereappeartobenolimitstorichesandpossessions。Trade([greek:]ekapelike)isliterallyretailtrade,andAristotletakesthiskindbecauseinitvaluesinusepredominate)
doesnotinitsnaturebelongtoChrematistic,forheretheexchangehasreferenceonlytowhatisnecessarytothemselves(thebuyerorseller)。"
Therefore,ashegoesontoshow,theoriginalformoftradewasbarter,butwiththeextensionofthelatter,therearosethenecessityformoney。
Onthediscoveryofmoney,barterofnecessitydevelopedinto[greek:kapelike],intotradingincommodities,andthisagain,inoppositiontoitsoriginaltendency,grewintoChrematistic,intotheartofmakingmoney。NowChrematisticisdistinguishablefromOeconomicinthisway,that"inthecaseofChrematisticcirculationisthesourceofriches([greek:]poietikechrematon……diachrematondiaboles)。Anditappearstorevolveaboutmoney,formoneyisthebeginningandendofthiskindofexchange([greek:]tonomismastoicheiontesallagesestin)。Thereforealsoriches,suchasChrematisticstrivesfor,areunlimited。Justaseveryartthatisnotameanstoanend,butanendinitself,hasnolimittoitsaims,becauseitseeksconstantlytoapproachnearerandnearertothatend,whilethoseartsthatpursuemeanstoanend,arenotboundless,sincethegoalitselfimposesalimituponthem,sowithChrematistic,therearenoboundstoitsaims,theseaimsbeingabsolutewealth。OeconomicnotChrematistichasalimit……
theobjectoftheformerissomethingdifferentfrommoney,ofthelattertheaugmentationofmoney……Byconfoundingthesetwoforms,whichoverlapeachother,somepeoplehavebeenledtolookuponthepreservationandincreaseofmoneyadinfinitumastheendandaimofOeconomic。"(Aristoteles,"DeRep。"edit。Bekker,lib。l。c。8,9。passim。)
[7]"Commodities(hereusedinthesenseofuse—values)arenottheterminatingobjectofthetradingcapitalist,moneyishisterminatingobject。"(Th。
Chalmers,"OnPol。Econ。&c。,"2ndEd。,Glasgow,1832,pp。165,166。)
[8]"IImercantenoncontaquasipernienteillucrofatto,mamirasemprealfuturo。"(A。Genovesi,LezionidiEconomiaCivile(1765),Custodi’sedit。ofItalianEconomists。ParteModernat。viii,p。139。)
[9]"Theinextinguishablepassionforgain,theaurisacrafames,willalwaysleadcapitalists。"(MacCulloch:"ThePrinciplesofPolit。Econ。"London,1830,p。179。)Thisview,ofcourse,doesnotpreventthesameMacCullochandothersofhiskidney,whenintheoreticaldifficulties,such,forexample,asthequestionofover—production,fromtransformingthesamecapitalistintoamoralcitizen,whosesoleconcernisforuse—values,andwhoevendevelopsaninsatiablehungerforboots,hats,eggs,calico,andotherextremelyfamiliarsortsofuse—values。
[10][greek:Sozein]isacharacteristicGreekexpressionforhoarding。SoinEnglishtosavehasthesametwomeanings:sauverandépargner。
[11]"Questoinfinitochelecosenonhannoinprogresso,hannoingiro。"(Galiani。)
[12]Cen’estpaslamatièrequifaitlecapital,maislavaleurdecesmatières。"(J。B。Say:"Traitéd’Econ。Polit。"3èmeéd。Paris,1817,t。II。,p。429。)
[13]"Currency(!)employedinproducingarticles……iscapital。"(Macleod:
"TheTheoryandPracticeofBanking。"London,1855,v。1,ch。i,p。55。)
"Capitaliscommodities。"(JamesMill:"ElementsofPol。Econ。"Lond。,1821,p。74。)
[14]Capital:"portionfructifiantedelarichesseaccumulée……valeurpermanents,multipliante。"(Sismondi:"NouveauxPrincipesd’Econ。Polit。,"
t。i。,p。88,89。)
ChapterFiveKarlMarxCapitalVolumeOnePartII:
TheTransformationofMoneyinCapitalCHAPTERFIVE:
CONTRADICTIONSINTHEGENERALFORMULAOFCAPITAL
Theformwhichcirculationtakeswhenmoneybecomescapital,isopposedtoallthelawswehavehithertoinvestigatedbearingonthenatureofcommodities,valueandmoney,andevenofcirculationitself。Whatdistinguishesthisformfromthatofthesimplecirculationofcommodities,istheinvertedorderofsuccessionofthetwoantitheticalprocesses,saleandpurchase。
Howcanthispurelyformaldistinctionbetweentheseprocesseschangetheircharacterasitwerebymagic?
Butthatisnotall。Thisinversionhasnoexistencefortwooutofthethreepersonswhotransactbusinesstogether。Ascapitalist,IbuycommoditiesfromAandsellthemagaintoB,butasasimpleownerofcommodities,IsellthemtoBandthenpurchasefreshonesfromA。AandBseenodifferencebetweenthetwosetsoftransactions。Theyaremerelybuyersorsellers。
AndIoneachoccasionmeetthemasamereownerofeithermoneyorcommodities,asabuyeroraseller,and,whatismore,inbothsetsoftransactions,IamopposedtoAonlyasabuyerandtoBonlyasaseller,totheoneonlyasmoney,totheotheronlyascommodities,andtoneitherofthemascapitaloracapitalist,orasrepresentativeofanythingthatismorethanmoneyorcommodities,orthatcanproduceanyeffectbeyondwhatmoneyandcommoditiescan。FormethepurchasefromAandthesaletoBarepartofaseries。Buttheconnexionbetweenthetwoactsexistsformealone。
AdoesnottroublehimselfaboutmytransactionwithB,nordoesBaboutmybusinesswithA。AndifIofferedtoexplaintothemthemeritoriousnatureofmyactionininvertingtheorderofsuccession,theywouldprobablypointouttomethatIwasmistakenastothatorderofsuccession,andthatthewholetransaction,insteadofbeginningwithapurchaseandendingwithasale,began,onthecontrary,withasaleandwasconcludedwithapurchase。Intruth,myfirstact,thepurchase,wasfromthestandpointofA,asale,andmysecondact,thesale,wasfromthestandpointofB,apurchase。Notcontentwiththat,AandBwoulddeclarethatthewholeserieswassuperfluousandnothingbutHokusPokus;thatforthefutureAwouldbuydirectfromB,andBselldirecttoA。Thusthewholetransactionwouldbereducedtoasingleactforminganisolated,non—complementedphaseintheordinarycirculationofcommodities,ameresalefromA’spointofview,andfromB’s,amerepurchase。Theinversion,therefore,oftheorderofsuccession,doesnottakeusoutsidethesphereofthesimplecirculationofcommodities,andwemustratherlook,whetherthereisinthissimplecirculationanythingpermittinganexpansionofthevaluethatentersintocirculation,and,consequently,acreationofsurplus—value。
Letustaketheprocessofcirculationinaformunderwhichitpresentsitselfasasimpleanddirectexchangeofcommodities。Thisisalwaysthecasewhentwoownersofcommoditiesbuyfromeachother,andonthesettlingdaytheamountsmutuallyowingareequalandcanceleachother。Themoneyinthiscaseismoneyofaccountandservestoexpressthevalueofthecommoditiesbytheirprices,butisnot,itself,intheshapeofhardcash,confrontedwiththem。Sofarasregardsuse—values,itisclearthatbothpartiesmaygainsomeadvantage。Bothpartwithgoodsthat,asuse—values,areofnoservicetothem,andreceiveothersthattheycanmakeuseof。
Andtheremayalsobeafurthergain。A,whosellswineandbuyscorn,possiblyproducesmorewine,withgivenlabour—time,thanfarmerBcould,andBontheotherhand,morecornthanwine—growerAcould。A,therefore,mayget,forthesameexchange—value,morecorn,andBmorewine,thaneachwouldrespectivelygetwithoutanyexchangebyproducinghisowncornandwine。Withreference,therefore,touse—value,thereisgoodgroundforsayingthat"exchangeisatransactionbywhichbothsidesgain。"[1]Itisotherwisewithexchange—value。"A
manwhohasplentyofwineandnocorntreatswithamanwhohasplentyofcornandnowine;anexchangetakesplacebetweenthemofcorntothevalueof50,forwineofthesamevalue。Thisactproducesnoincreaseofexchange—valueeitherfortheoneortheother;foreachofthemalreadypossessed,beforetheexchange,avalueequaltothatwhichheacquiredbymeansofthatoperation。"[2]Theresultisnotalteredbyintroducingmoney,asamediumofcirculation,betweenthecommodities,andmakingthesaleandthepurchasetwodistinctacts。[3]Thevalueofacommodityisexpressedinitspricebeforeitgoesintocirculation,andisthereforeaprecedentconditionofcirculation,notitsresult。[4]
Abstractedlyconsidered,thatis,apartfromcircumstancesnotimmediatelyflowingfromthelawsofthesimplecirculationofcommodities,thereisinanexchangenothing(ifweexceptthereplacingofoneuse—valuebyanother)butametamorphosis,amerechangeintheformofthecommodity。
Thesameexchange—value,i。e。,thesamequantityofincorporatedsociallabour,remainsthroughoutinthehandsoftheownerofthecommodity,firstintheshapeofhisowncommodity,thenintheformofthemoneyforwhichheexchangedit,andlastly,intheshapeofthecommodityhebuyswiththatmoney。Thischangeofformdoesnotimplyachangeinthemagnitudeofthevalue。Butthechange,whichthevalueofthecommodityundergoesinthisprocess,islimitedtoachangeinitsmoney—form。Thisformexistsfirstasthepriceofthecommodityofferedforsale,thenasanactualsumofmoney,which,however,wasalreadyexpressedintheprice,andlastly,asthepriceofanequivalentcommodity。Thischangeofformnomoreimplies,takenalone,achangeinthequantityofvalue,thandoesthechangeofa£5noteintosovereigns,halfsovereignsandshillings。Sofarthereforeasthecirculationofcommoditieseffectsachangeintheformaloneoftheirvalues,andisfreefromdisturbinginfluences,itmustbetheexchangeofequivalents。LittleasVulgar—Economyknowsaboutthenatureofvalue,yetwheneveritwishestoconsiderthephenomenaofcirculationintheirpurity,itassumesthatsupplyanddemandareequal,whichamountstothis,thattheireffectisnil。Iftherefore,asregardstheuse—valuesexchanged,bothbuyerandsellermaypossiblygainsomething,thisisnotthecaseasregardstheexchange—values。Herewemustrathersay,"Whereequalityexiststherecanbenogain。"[5]Itistrue,commoditiesmaybesoldatpricesdeviatingfromtheirvalues,butthesedeviationsaretobeconsideredasinfractionsofthelawsoftheexchangeofcommodities[6],whichinitsnormalstateisanexchangeofequivalents,consequently,nomethodforincreasingvalue。[7]
Hence,weseethatbehindallattemptstorepresentthecirculationofcommoditiesasasourceofsurplus—value,therelurksaquidproquo,amixingupofuse—valueandexchange—value。Forinstance,Condillacsays:"Itisnottruethatonanexchangeofcommoditieswegivevalueforvalue。Onthecontrary,eachofthetwocontractingpartiesineverycase,givesalessforagreatervalue……Ifwereallyexchangedequalvalues,neitherpartycouldmakeaprofit。Andyet,theybothgain,oroughttogain。Why?Thevalueofathingconsistssolelyinitsrelationtoourwants。Whatismoretotheoneislesstotheother,andviceversâ……Itisnottobeassumedthatweofferforsalearticlesrequiredforourownconsumption……Wewishtopartwithauselessthing,inordertogetonethatweneed;wewanttogivelessformore……Itwasnaturaltothinkthat,inanexchange,valuewasgivenforvalue,whenevereachofthearticlesexchangedwasofequalvaluewiththesamequantityofgold……Butthereisanotherpointtobeconsideredinourcalculation。
Thequestionis,whetherwebothexchangesomethingsuperfluousforsomethingnecessary。"[8]Weseeinthispassage,howCondillacnotonlyconfusesuse—valuewithexchange—value,butinareallychildishmannerassumes,thatinasociety,inwhichtheproductionofcommoditiesiswelldeveloped,eachproducerproduceshisownmeansofsubsistence,andthrowsintocirculationonlytheexcessoverhisownrequirements。[9]Still,Condillac’sargumentisfrequentlyusedbymodemeconomists,moreespeciallywhenthepointistoshow,thattheexchangeofcommoditiesinitsdevelopedform,commerce,isproductiveofsurplus—value。Forinstance,"Commerce……addsvaluetoproducts,forthesameproductsinthehandsofconsumers,areworthmorethaninthehandsofproducers,anditmaystrictlybeconsideredanactofproduction。"[10]Butcommoditiesarenotpaidfortwiceover,onceonaccountoftheiruse—value,andagainonaccountoftheirvalue。Andthoughtheuse—valueofacommodityismoreserviceabletothebuyerthantotheseller,itsmoney—formismoreserviceabletotheseller。Wouldheotherwisesellit?Wemightthereforejustaswellsaythatthebuyerperforms"strictlyanactofproduction,"byconvertingstockings,forexample,intomoney。
Ifcommodities,orcommoditiesandmoney,ofequalexchange—value,andconsequentlyequivalents,areexchanged,itisplainthatnooneabstractsmorevaluefrom,thanhethrowsinto,circulation。Thereisnocreationofsurplus—value。And,initsnormalform,thecirculationofcommoditiesdemandstheexchangeofequivalents。Butinactualpractice,theprocessdoesnotretainitsnormalform。Letus,therefore,assumeanexchangeofnon—equivalents。
Inanycasethemarketforcommoditiesisonlyfrequentedbyownersofcommodities,andthepowerwhichthesepersonsexerciseovereachother,isnootherthanthepoweroftheircommodities。Thematerialvarietyofthesecommoditiesisthematerialincentivetotheactofexchange,andmakesbuyersandsellersmutuallydependent,becausenoneofthempossessestheobjectofhisownwants,andeachholdsinhishandtheobjectofanother’swants。Besidesthesematerialdifferencesoftheiruse—values,thereisonlyoneotherdifferencebetweencommodities,namely,thatbetweentheirbodilyformandtheformintowhichtheyareconvertedbysale,thedifferencebetweencommoditiesandmoney。Andconsequentlytheownersofcommoditiesaredistinguishableonlyassellers,thosewhoowncommodities,andbuyers,thosewhoownmoney。
Supposethen,thatbysomeinexplicableprivilege,thesellerisenabledtosellhiscommoditiesabovetheirvalue,whatisworth100for110,inwhichcasethepriceisnominallyraised10%。Thesellerthereforepocketsasurplus—valueof10。Butafterhehassoldhebecomesabuyer。Athirdownerofcommoditiescomestohimnowasseller,whointhiscapacityalsoenjoystheprivilegeofsellinghiscommodities10%toodear。Ourfriendgained10asaselleronlytoloseitagainasabuyer。[11]Thenetresultis,thatallownersofcommoditiesselltheirgoodstooneanotherat10%abovetheirvalue,whichcomespreciselytothesameasiftheysoldthemattheirtruevalue。Suchageneralandnominalriseofpriceshasthesameeffectasifthevalueshadbeenexpressedinweightofsilverinsteadofinweightofgold。Thenominalpricesofcommoditieswouldrise,buttherealrelationbetweentheirvalueswouldremainunchanged。
Letusmaketheoppositeassumption,thatthebuyerhastheprivilegeofpurchasingcommoditiesundertheirvalue。Inthiscaseitisnolongernecessarytobearinmindthatheinhisturnwillbecomeaseller。Hewassobeforehebecamebuyer;hehadalreadylost10%insellingbeforehegained10%asbuyer。[12]Everythingisjustasitwas。
Thecreationofsurplus—value,andthereforetheconversionofmoneyintocapital,canconsequentlybeexplainedneitherontheassumptionthatcommoditiesaresoldabovetheirvalue,northattheyareboughtbelowtheirvalue。[13]
TheproblemisinnowaysimplifiedbyintroducingirrelevantmattersafterthemannerofCol。Torrens:"Effectualdemandconsistsinthepowerandinclination(!),onthepartofconsumers,togiveforcommodities,eitherbyimmediateorcircuitousbarter,somegreaterportionof……capitalthantheirproductioncosts。"[14]Inrelationtocirculation,producersandconsumersmeetonlyasbuyersandsellers。Toassertthatthesurplus—valueacquiredbytheproducerhasitsorigininthefactthatconsumerspayforcommoditiesmorethantheirvalue,isonlytosayinotherwords:Theownerofcommoditiespossesses,asaseller,theprivilegeofsellingtoodear。Thesellerhashimselfproducedthecommoditiesorrepresentstheirproducer,butthebuyerhastonolessextentproducedthecommoditiesrepresentedbyhismoney,orrepresentstheirproducer。Thedistinctionbetweenthemis,thatonebuysandtheothersells。Thefactthattheownerofthecommodities,underthedesignationofproducer,sellsthemovertheirvalue,andunderthedesignationofconsumer,paystoomuchforthem,doesnotcarryusasinglestepfurther。[15]
Tobeconsistenttherefore,theupholdersofthedelusionthatsurplus—valuehasitsorigininanominalriseofpricesorintheprivilegewhichthesellerhasofsellingtoodear,mustassumetheexistenceofaclassthatonlybuysanddoesnotsell,i。e。,onlyconsumesanddoesnotproduce。
Theexistenceofsuchaclassisinexplicablefromthestandpointwehavesofarreached,viz。,thatofsimplecirculation。Butletusanticipate。
Themoneywithwhichsuchaclassisconstantlymakingpurchases,mustconstantlyflowintotheirpockets,withoutanyexchange,gratis,bymightorright,fromthepocketsofthecommodity—ownersthemselves。Tosellcommoditiesabovetheirvaluetosuchaclass,isonlytocribbackagainapartofthemoneypreviouslygiventoit。[16]ThetownsofAsiaMinorthuspaidayearlymoneytributetoancientRome。
WiththismoneyRomepurchasedfromthemcommodities,andpurchasedthemtoodear。TheprovincialscheatedtheRomans,andthusgotbackfromtheirconquerors,inthecourseoftrade,aportionofthetribute。Yet,forallthat,theconqueredwerethereallycheated。Theirgoodswerestillpaidforwiththeirownmoney。Thatisnotthewaytogetrichortocreatesurplus—value。
Letusthereforekeepwithintheboundsofexchangewheresellersarealsobuyers,andbuyers,sellers。Ourdifficultymayperhapshavearisenfromtreatingtheactorsaspersonificationsinsteadofasindividuals。
AmaybecleverenoughtogettheadvantageofBorCwithouttheirbeingabletoretaliate。Asellswineworth£40toB,andobtainsfromhiminexchangecorntothevalueof£50。Ahasconvertedhis£40into£50,hasmademoremoneyoutofless,andhasconvertedhiscommoditiesintocapital。Letusexaminethisalittlemoreclosely。
Beforetheexchangewehad£40worthofwineinthehandsofA,and£50worthofcorninthoseofB,atotalvalueof£90。Aftertheexchangewehavestillthesametotalvalueof£90。Thevalueincirculationhasnotincreasedbyoneiota,itisonlydistributeddifferentlybetweenAandB。WhatisalossofvaluetoBissurplus—valuetoA;whatis"minus"tooneis"plus"totheother。Thesamechangewouldhavetakenplace,ifA,withouttheformalityofanexchange,haddirectlystolenthe£10fromB。Thesumofthevaluesincirculationcanclearlynotbeaugmentedbyanychangeintheirdistribution,anymorethanthequantityofthepreciousmetalsinacountrybyaJewsellingaQueenAnne’sfarthingforaguinea。Thecapitalistclass,asawhole,inanycountry,cannotover—reachthemselves。[17]
Turnandtwistthenaswemay,thefactremainsunaltered。Ifequivalentsareexchanged,nosurplus—valueresults,andifnon—equivalentsareexchanged,stillnosurplus—value。[18]Circulation,ortheexchangeofcommodities,begetsnovalue。[19]
Thereasonisnowthereforeplainwhy,inanalysingthestandardformofcapital,theformunderwhichitdeterminestheeconomicorganisationofmodernsociety,weentirelyleftoutofconsiderationitsmostpopular,and,sotosay,antediluvianforms,merchants’capitalandmoney—lenders’
capital。
ThecircuitM—C—M,buyinginordertoselldearer,isseenmostclearlyingenuinemerchants’capital。Butthemovementtakesplaceentirelywithinthesphereofcirculation。Since,however,itisimpossible,bycirculationalone,toaccountfortheconversionofmoneyintocapital,fortheformationofsurplus—value,itwouldappear,thatmerchants’capitalisanimpossibility,solongasequivalentsareexchanged;[20]that,therefore,itcanonlyhaveitsorigininthetwo—foldadvantagegained,overboththesellingandthebuyingproducers,bythemerchantwhoparasiticallyshoveshimselfinbetweenthem。ItisinthissensethatFranklinsays,"warisrobbery,commerceisgenerallycheating。"[21]Ifthetransformationofmerchants’moneyintocapitalistobeexplainedotherwisethanbytheproducersbeingsimplycheated,alongseriesofintermediatestepswouldbenecessary,which,atpresent,whenthesimplecirculationofcommoditiesformsouronlyassumption,areentirelywanting。
Whatwehavesaidwithreferencetomerchants’capital,appliesstillmoretomoney—lenders’capital。Inmerchants’capital,thetwoextremes,themoneythatisthrownuponthemarket,andtheaugmentedmoneythatiswithdrawnfromthemarket,areatleastconnectedbyapurchaseandasale,inotherwordsbythemovementofthecirculation。Inmoney—lenders’
capitaltheformM—C—Misreducedtothetwoextremeswithoutamean,M—M
,moneyexchangedformoremoney,aformthatisincompatiblewiththenatureofmoney,andthereforeremainsinexplicablefromthestandpointofthecirculationofcommodities。HenceAristotle:"sincechrematisticisadoublescience,onepartbelongingtocommerce,theothertoeconomic,thelatterbeingnecessaryandpraiseworthy,theformerbasedoncirculationandwithjusticedisapproved(foritisnotbasedonNature,butonmutualcheating),thereforetheusurerismostrightlyhated,becausemoneyitselfisthesourceofhisgain,andisnotusedforthepurposesforwhichitwasinvented。Foritoriginatedfortheexchangeofcommodities,butinterestmakesoutofmoney,moremoney。Henceitsname([greek:tokos]interestandoffspring)。Forthebegottenarelikethosewhobegetthem。Butinterestismoneyofmoney,sothatofallmodesofmakingaliving,thisisthemostcontrarytoNature。"[22]
Inthecourseofourinvestigation,weshallfindthatbothmerchants’
capitalandinterest—bearingcapitalarederivativeforms,andatthesametimeitwillbecomeclear,whythesetwoformsappearinthecourseofhistorybeforethemodernstandardformofcapital。
Wehaveshownthatsurplus—valuecannotbecreatedbycirculation,and,therefore,thatinitsformation,somethingmusttakeplaceinthebackground,whichisnotapparentinthecirculationitself。[23]Butcansurplus—valuepossiblyoriginateanywhereelsethanincirculation,whichisthesumtotalofallthemutualrelationsofcommodity—owners,asfarastheyaredeterminedbytheircommodities?Apartfromcirculation,thecommodity—ownerisinrelationonlywithhisowncommodity。Sofarasregardsvalue,thatrelationislimitedtothis,thatthecommoditycontainsaquantityofhisownlabour,thatquantitybeingmeasuredbyadefinitesocialstandard。Thisquantityisexpressedbythevalueofthecommodity,andsincethevalueisreckonedinmoneyofaccount,thisquantityisalsoexpressedbytheprice,whichwewillsupposetobe£10。
Buthislabourisnotrepresentedbothbythevalueofthecommodity,andbyasurplusoverthatvalue,notbyapriceof10thatisalsoapriceof11,notbyavaluethatisgreaterthanitself。Thecommodityownercan,byhislabour,createvalue,butnotself—expandingvalue。Hecanincreasethevalueofhiscommodity,byaddingfreshlabour,andthereforemorevaluetothevalueinhand,bymaking,forinstance,leatherintoboots。Thesamematerialhasnowmorevalue,becauseitcontainsagreaterquantityoflabour。Thebootshavethereforemorevaluethantheleather,butthevalueoftheleatherremainswhatitwas;
ithasnotexpandeditself,hasnot,duringthemakingoftheboots,annexedsurplus—value。Itisthereforeimpossiblethatoutsidethesphereofcirculation,aproducerofcommoditiescan,withoutcomingintocontactwithothercommodity—owners,expandvalue,andconsequentlyconvertmoneyorcommoditiesintocapital。
Itisthereforeimpossibleforcapitaltobeproducedbycirculation,anditisequallyimpossibleforittooriginateapartfromcirculation。
Itmusthaveitsoriginbothincirculationandyetnotincirculation。
第13章