“You can’t exploit your own labor, right?”

I illustrated a real conversation I had with a friend 2 days ago…. She asked me why I priced my art so low, and then asked if I knew what is surplus value. I didn’t very much, so she then explained it to me. I was like, no, this is actually very different, oh ho ho, well, the materials themselves were provided to me by the school for free* I only spent hours putting everything together and drawing it so it wasn’t worth very much.

The embarrassment I felt as she said, “star, you illustrated my point perfectly. You are so good at giving me examples”

Then I was like. Wait, you should pay people for their time too? I didn’t think my time was worth any money, and then she judged me ever harder (very silly)

Very silly goofer doodle to share with you all :))

20 comments

Surplus value is the difference between the hourly wage and the value of the product produced. In your case they are rolled into one, resulting in a very low time compensation, but you are getting the surplus value.
You're not exploiting yourself, you're undervaluing your time and your production.
- Yay thank you for the explanation!!!!!! /gen

Very common among budding artists. I pretty much can't negotiate my own rates, I will severely lowball every time, partly because I don't think my time has much value, partly because I hate rejection, and partly to end the interaction as quickly as possible
- Hugs you so tight!!! fuck. :( if you want to talk to someone I’m here!! And if you have links to ur art posts you are okay with sharing I would love to post them to my social media :’)
  
  I appreciate the thought, but I've done so much less this year with full time work.
  Also, linking things here is fraught, it would ID me even more than my posting here does

Your time on Earth is insanely valuable.
- Awwww thank you 🥺💕💕 ahhhhhh😭
- well. it should be. seems real weird to value a mostly bad time
  
  Hugs if wanted 🫂

I think in one of the first three chapters of Capital, Marx describes how the resource that workers sell to capitalists is their time, which is non-fungible (I think I'm using that correctly). Your time is the most valuable resource you own, so value it as such
Also I love your art you do poses really well
- THANK YOUUUU MY POSES R A BIT AWKWARD but I want to be more familiar with the hexbearers so I must step under the spotlight even though it’s scary fhfhf
  I tried to reas capitol three times but I don’t think I’m literate enough/gen to properly understand him???? 😭😭😭 my English isn’t that good or something or my comprehension of concepts is lacking… maybe I should try again. :)
  Ohhh and thank you :’) I appreciate u 🫶🏼
  
  Capital is a difficult book to read, so don't be mean to yourself over not understanding it.
  For me I had to read an abridged version because it was too dense for me

My partner is like this. Spend dozens of hours on a mosaic and... Price? Oh maybe $15
- NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭 that’s actually abysmal…… I remember this crochet artist insisted on pricing their hat under $20 and I was trying to give them more money and then they refused😭
  
  Yaaaa I've convinced them finally to up the prices on a few big pieces. Maybe a couple are $60 or $70 now. But I'm like as not an artist at all I an literally see how much effort you put into the simplest piece you do. Worth so much more.
  Ooooff that's sad. That hat was probably awesome. Take the extra cash. It just means I appreciate you!
  Also your drawing up there is lovely. Very expressive!

Me and some friends basically had to have an Intervention for another friend who was doing free lance graphic design work and pricing it to where he was making like $10 an hour.

The minimum wage, generally speaking, is the cost for labor to reproduce itself in food, lodging, clothing, etc for the worker. Surplus value is the value produced subtracted by the cost of capital and labor power. So forget about surplus value. You weren't even paying for your own labor