A B C of modern socialism

64 number of the proletariat capable of yielding labour-power.

What is the wage system?

The wage system or (capitalist production) is the system under which the owners of capital by labour-power as a commodity and after employing it—that is, directing its application to raw materials —appropriate its products, which they then sell. The difference between the selling price of these products and the cost of producing them is surplus value, the obtaining of which, in the form of rent, interest or profit, is the object of capitalist production. How is the increasing pressure of the wage system upon the proletariat shown?

By the fall in real wages and by the ing up” of labour in the workshop.

What are real wages?

Real wages as distinguished from nominal or money wages are the amount of commodities actually purchasable by a nominal wage.

What is meant by speeding-up?

Speeding-up is the name given to the various means adopted by capitalists for extracting more labour-power from workmen.

What means do the workmen use to resist the pressure of the wage system?

Two means—commonly called economic and political action.

What is economic action?

Economic action is the collective action of workmen operating by means of trade unions directly upon their employers.

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