Capital profits arise because experiential labour cannot be bought directly.
Evidence
For the dual nature of Draper’s labour is writ large in every episode of Mad Men. His bosses would love to be able to purchase his ideas without having to tolerate him lounging around the office half drunk. In the language of the previous chapter, they would jump at the opportunity to buy Draper’s experiential labour directly. Only they couldn’t, even if he wanted to sell it to them. Instead, they are forced to buy his commodity labour (i.e. his time and potential) in the hope that, during his inebriated daze, his genius will spontaneously deliver the famed Draper magic. And when it does, their immense profits confirm once again that capital is born out of the capitalists’ inability to buy experiential labour directly. — Yanis Varoufakis, Technofeudalism, 127
Categorization
- DEFINE: Clarifies the experiential vs commodity labour distinction central to the analytical apparatus.
- QUESTION: If digital platforms succeed in capturing experiential labour directly, does that confirm the technofeudalism thesis? Worth examining.
- corroborated: 2 independent passages support this claim — Yanis Varoufakis, Technofeudalism: What Killed Capitalism, 127
- XREF: connects to: Profit arises from labour’s uncommodifiable experiential dimension; Profit does not reward capital but results from labour’s dual nature — Yanis Varoufakis, Technofeudalism: What Killed Capitalism, 75; Profit only arises because workers produce more value than they are paid. — Clara E. Mattei, Escape from Capitalism: An Intervention, 103 (+4 more)
Broader Connections
- Profit does not reward capital but results from labour’s dual nature
#corroborates(0.90) — Yanis Varoufakis, Technofeudalism, 75 - Profit only arises because workers produce more value than they are paid.
#corroborates(0.80) — Clara E. Mattei, Escape from Capitalism, 103 - Capital expands by not paying workers for part of their labor
#corroborates(0.75) — Clara E. Mattei, Escape from Capitalism, 104