The Problem With the Labor Theory of Value
After writing that last, slightly vitriolic post regarding a certain breed of leftist, I’ve been thinking about how difficult it can be to critique even the worst arguments of that type, as they’re completely lexical in nature and are typically very good at avoiding the use of concrete definitions. Such loose definitions allow the writer to sidestep close criticism by giving readers nothing to grab on to. This is a good (and rather Zen-like) strategic move, but it’s at best a sign of weak understanding, and intellectually dishonest at worst.
One oft-invoked concept in the canon of weak leftist thought is Marx’s labor theory of value, which is used to support claims of exploitation of workers– thus the claim that workers who voluntarily move from farms to cities with the express intent of working at a multinational corporation’s factory are being “exploited”, even though they consider themselves better off than they were before. In an older post on Brad DeLong’s weblog, he shows why this theory isn’t a useful model for thinking about exploitation.