# Surplus Value By:: [[Ross Jackson]] 2022-09-21 It is easy to get seduced into unwinnable arguments. A common trick in argumentation is to debate an issue on the periphery and by winning that aspect of the discussion conclude, illogically, that one had conclusively demonstrated that the central point being argued has been shown false. One such approach is often used against Marx. It is relatively easy to make comparisons between capitalist and Soviet-style, communist economies and show the superior consumer products offered at lower prices under capitalism. Such a [[Comparison]] might be great if the question being asked is whether one rather goes shopping in the United States or the Soviet Union. That argument has little to do with Marx’s [[critique]] of labor relations under capitalism. In fact, to the degree to which the capitalist model performs well concerning lowering consumer prices, it supports rather than undermines the critique. The concept of _surplus value_ figures prominently in Marx’s critique. Surplus [[value]] is the excess value produced by labor beyond the wages they are paid. Through the extraction of surplus value, organizations can lower the price of a product, increase the compensation of those holding more prestigious positions, or both. In short, surplus value allows higher-echelon employees or shareholders to make [[money]] off the labor of those at lower levels within the organization by paying them less than the value of what they produce. It is this Marxian concept which American workers largely ignored as the Cold War waged. At that time the insight could be ignored as in that global, economic competition there was pressure to show that capitalism produced a better [[living]] standard for workers than that produced under [[communism]]. This put pressure on American firms to limit the amount of surplus value extracted from labor. With the fall of the Soviet Union, a major constraint on capitalism was gone. Capitalism no longer had to provide as much of the surplus value to those laboring, as there was no need to show that capitalism was better than communism for workers. In the absence of that constraint labor’s share, despite increasing productivity, has stagnated as profits and executive compensation have grown steadily. It is precisely this phenomenon that Marx critiqued. #### Related Items [[Marxism]] [[Soviet Union]] [[American]] [[Capitalism]] [[Argumentation]]