In capitalism, owners of the “means of production” (things like
land, factories, technologies, and natural resources, or the
money to buy these things) employ labor to do the work of
actually producing things. If the system is working correctly,
the value of the labor that goes into making something is worth
less than the value of the thing. This way the capitalist can
sell the thing, pay the worker, and skim some profit off the
top. But how much profit? In a less exploitative system, the
worker is paid close to what his work is worth (after accounting
for the expenses of maintaining the means of production). In a
more exploitative system, the capitalist takes a larger chunk of
the enhanced value for himself and gives less to the worker.
What kind of system do we have in the U.S.? Let’s take a look at
some data. Over at Reports from the Economic Front, Martin Hart-
Landsberg posted this graph. It shows that workers have become
increasingly productive since 1948 (i.e., they have created more
and more surplus va