A short article that discusses the relationship of wages to value, labor time and distribution of goods under capitalism and how this changes during the transformation of capitalism into communism.

Capitalism

Societal: Total Wages < Total Value = Total Labor Time = Total Goods

Individual: Individual Wage < Individual Value = Individual Labor Time = Individual Goods

Notes: The capitalist class holds political power, using the state to enforce its control over the means of production. The separation of the producers from the means of production allows exploitation, as the difference between total wages and total value produced is the surplus value appropriated by the capitalist class as a whole from the working class as a whole. This difference is partly used to maintain production, partly re-invested into expanding production and partly kept as personal wealth.

Proletarian Dictatorship

Societal: Total Wages ≈ Total Value = Total Labor Time = Total Goods

Individual: Individual Wage ≈ Individual Value = Individual Labor Time = Individual Goods

Notes: Having conquered political power, the working class seizes the means of production and generalizes its condition to all the non-working and formerly exploiting classes, equalizing wages, therefore eliminating surplus value production and thus suppressing capital accumulation, with money earned becoming directly proportional to labor time. A small difference is deducted from the wage to cover social costs such as housing, healthcare, electricity, etc…

Socialism

Societal: Total Labor Vouchers ≈ Total Labor Time = Total Goods

Individual: Individual Labor Voucher ≈ Individual Labor Time = Individual Goods

Notes: With the equalization of wages making payment directly proportional to labor time, and with the proletarian state in control of most of production and distribution, money that circulates between the different branches of the socialized economy can be directly converted into labor times and wage-labor can be replaced with a labor voucher system to distribute and apportion labor in a rational and planned manner to meet human needs. Value production is destroyed, and with it, capital.

Communism

Societal: Total Labor Time = Total Goods

Individual: Individual Labor Time ≠ Individual Goods

Notes: The abolition of the division of labor and the expansion of the forces of production, along with the death of capitalist habits and mentalities, renders the strict accounting of labor time unnecessary, as labor is performed voluntarily and goods are freely distributed according to need, rather than in proportion to labor time. All sectors of the world economy have been integrated into socialized production, and the state has completely withered away into an administrative apparatus.