I’ve been reading Capital off and on for months and this is a seemingly pretty important difference that I don’t understand. Is there a difference between surplus labor and profit, and if so, what is it? Any explanations, links, or chapters in Capital I should check out are appreciated.
My understanding is that profit slides with supply and demand, you can sell commodities above or below their Value, but the surplus Value as a proportion of the Natural Value, ie the Price when supply and demand “cover each other,” remains the same regardless of the actual supply and demand.
Ie, a commodity with a natural value of 25 dollars, 10 of which coming from labor as surplus value, retains the 10 dollars of surplus value extraction no matter if the commodity is sold for 30 dollars or 20 dollars.
I haven’t yet read Capital though, only Wage Labor and Capital and Wages, Price and Profit, so if someone could correct or confirm what I have said that would be nice.