: Stoller [saying nothing that hasn't been said before]:
: All commodities (averaging out socially necessary labor-time) are exchanged (sold) for their TRUE value. Ok, when one accepts the concepts of surplus-value and socially necessary labor-time as true, then one would be able to logically say that a man who has hired a worker and does not pay them what their product is worth (thus making profit) is essentially stealing from the worker. My question is how this works in relation to consumers. If a self-employed worker makes shoes, after calculating the socially necessary labor time and the standard value of the shoes (taking into account quality and cost of materials) and he determines that one pair of shoes is worth $20. Would he be bamboozling the consumer if he charged $30? $50? $100? Now, assume that this worker has a monopoly on selling shoes, that is, he is the only shoe manufacturer in his town. Would it be alright for him to charge enough so that he could break even and still earn a decent living? What if he charged ludicrous amounts and lived a luxurious life-style? (Keep in mind that I am assuming that no other competition will move in to put him out of business.)
