Talk:Wage Labour and Capital

Unsourced synopsis

There is a valid concern and a likely possibility that the current synopsis describing the book is lacking any valid citation. Although it may be describing the themes of the Marx pamphlet accurately, I'm having trouble finding the original source and attribution for some of the quoted passages.

The current synopsis reads:

The ideas expressed in the essay have a thorough economic contemplation about them as Marx put aside his materialist conceptions of history for the time being. This essay began developing a more scientific rationale for his concept of alienated labor which in Marx’s perspective would eventually lead to the proletarian revolution.

Main topics examined in the essay include labour power, labour, and how labour power becomes a commodity. The labour theory of value is introduced, which distinguishes between labour and labour power. The essay defines the term commodity and explores how the economic principles of supply and demand affect the pricing of certain commodities. Beyond that, the essay explores how capital and capitalism do not service any purpose other than to gain more of it, which Marx presents as an illogical method of living one's life.

Thus, "Wage-Labor and Capital" is considered by Marxists as an "in-depth economic and scientific observation on how capitalist economy works, why it was exploitative, and ultimately why it would eventually implode from within".

The current synopsis cites a book description on the Amazon web site, for an edition of the book sold by an independent publisher that was first released in 2015.<https://www.amazon.com/Wage-Labor-Capital-Karl-Marx/dp/1507767889>

The following is the synopsis on the Amazon web site:

"Wage Labour and Capital" is an essay on economics by Karl Marx, written in 1847 and first published in articles in the Neue Rheinische Zeitung in April 1849. This book has been widely acclaimed as the precursor to Marx’s important treatise Das Kapital. The ideas that are expressed in the book have a very thorough economic contemplation about them as he put aside some of his materialist conceptions of history for the time being. This book did, however, start to show an increased scientific rationale on his ideas of "alienated labor," which in Marx’s perspective would eventually lead to the proletarian revolution. Wage-Labor and Capital is considered by Marxists as an "in-depth economic and scientific observation on how capitalist economy works, why it was exploitative, and ultimately why it would eventually implode from within". Some of the main topics that the book examines are about labour power and labour, and how labour power becomes a commodity. It also presents the Labour Theory of Value that further develops the distinct differences between labour and labour power. The book also examines the commodity and how the economic principles of supply and demand affect the pricing of certain commodities. Beyond that the book explores how capital and capitalism do not service any purpose other than to gain more of it, which Marx presents as an illogical method of living one’s life.

There's a good chance that this synopsis was copied from Wikipedia.

I've gone back to the Wikipedia article history, and found this edit by user Rfenton1 on 15 February 2007 that adds a strangely similar synopsis:

This book has been wildly acclaimed as the precursor to Marx’s masterpiece Das Kapital. The ideas that are expressed in the book have a very thorough economic contemplation about them as he put aside some of his materialist conceptions of history for the time being. This book did, however, start to show an increased “scientific” rationale on his ideas of “alienated labor,” which in Marx’s perspective would eventually lead to the proletariat revolution.

Wage Labour and Capital is for all intensive purposes an in-depth economic and scientific observation on how capitalist economy works, why it was exploitative, and ultimately why it would eventually implode from within. Among the most interesting elements of the work is Marx’s extremely sufficient knowledge of how Capitalism works. This provides a high amount of legitimation that brings necessary credibility to his work.

Some of the main topics that the book examines are about labour power and labour, and how labour power becomes a commodity. It also presents a very well-constructed Labour Theory of Value that further develops the distinct differences between labour and labour power. The book also explores an in-depth examination of commodity and how the economic principles of supply and demand affect the pricing of certain commodities. Beyond that the book explores how capital and Capitalism do not service any purpose other than to gain more of it, which Marx presents as an illogical method of living one’s life. [...]

There may be a few copyedits to the book synopsis to make it slightly different, but this seems to be the same text, almost verbatim, to the Wikipedia article. Perhaps, the independent book publisher lifted the Wikipedia article for their published version of Marx's "Wage-Labor and Capital"?

I predict we need to rewrite portions of this article and the citations, at least remove the unattributed quoted phrases, and use verifiable sources and provide proper citations. --Ashawley (talk) 06:21, 1 December 2021 (UTC)

If my assumptions above are correct, there is a second-order problem. The unsourced Wikipedia synopsis may have been copied to random sites on the Web and books. These could be cited on this article again in the future. We'll need to emphasize using verifiable, published and reliable sources going forward. --Ashawley (talk) 16:21, 1 December 2021 (UTC)

I've removed the questionable sourcing to the book description on Amazon and the last paragraph since it is repetetive. --Ashawley (talk) 15:46, 19 March 2024 (UTC)