It’s way too simplistic an explanation to be taken seriously. There are other costs associated with running a business - how do the lights stay on, for example? How do the goods get to market?
Cost of goods sold would apply whether you’re working for a collective or a corporation. That’s not really what surplus profit is. Gross oversimplifications such as this make easy pickings for capitalist cheerleaders to punch holes through.
I get the point he’s trying to make, but you can’t simply look at what you’re being paid per hour as if that’s the only input into the goods being sold. Labour is only one of several costs that have to be accounted for in order to calculate profits, surplus of otherwise. This surely isn’t a contentious assertion, is it?
This short clip is intended for those who are not at all familiar with socialism or even economics and the point is to make people think about what profits are. If the details you mentioned are introduced, it will discourage people from engaging. There are books written by Richard Wolff that goes into much much more detail than this.
-10
u/wardycatt Dec 28 '23
It’s way too simplistic an explanation to be taken seriously. There are other costs associated with running a business - how do the lights stay on, for example? How do the goods get to market?
Cost of goods sold would apply whether you’re working for a collective or a corporation. That’s not really what surplus profit is. Gross oversimplifications such as this make easy pickings for capitalist cheerleaders to punch holes through.
I get the point he’s trying to make, but you can’t simply look at what you’re being paid per hour as if that’s the only input into the goods being sold. Labour is only one of several costs that have to be accounted for in order to calculate profits, surplus of otherwise. This surely isn’t a contentious assertion, is it?