e labor power is a commodity, what condition is it subject to?

Ans.: It is subject to the same conditions that all other commodities
are subject to without regard to the fact that it is the source of all
social value. The worker in whom the commodity labor power is embodied,
does not get the value of the product of his labor, but only about
one-fifth of it, enough to keep him in working order and reproduce more
labor power in his children. If the worker received the value of the
product of his labor he would receive much more than enough to keep him
in working order and to raise his family. Such an economic condition
would abolish all forms of surplus value or profit, also the wage
system, by substituting economic and social organization in the interest
of the working class. No other class could remain in existence and the
class struggle would be ended.

21. In what economic system, past or present, does surplus value appear?

Ans.: It is the root of all social systems since the rise of the
institution of private property, but only under the present system
(capitalism) has labor power assumed the commodity form. Labor power is
a commodity with a two fold character: it has a use and an exchange
value. Its use value consists in its being capable of producing values
over and above its own needs for sustenance and reproduction. Its
exchange value consists in the amount of socially necessary labor time
required for its production and reproduction.

The chattel and feudal systems of slavery were not directly concerned
with the production of commodities for the profit of the masters, but
rather with the producing of the necessities of life for all, masters
and slaves, and the luxuries for some, the masters. That which was not
produced for immediate consumption was sold, if opportunities presented
themselves, and occasionally the professional traders developed, for
example, the Phoenicians; but they were an exception to the rule. The
same holds good for feudalism, except that during the latter stages of
that system commercialism arose; but this commercialism was no feature
of feudalism--it was the rising capitalism that began to unfold and
assert itself.

22. Name the three great systems of economic organization upon which the
structure of past history and social institutions have their basis.

Ans.: (1) Chattel slavery, (2) serfdom, or feudal slavery and (3) wage
slavery.

23. Explain, briefly, how the subject class wa