Netanyahu’s failed attempt to replace Shin Bet’s chief violates longstanding Israeli political taboos, as the apartheid state’s internal power struggle spirals to a new level of crisis while Gaza burns, writes RAMZY BAROUD
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What’s the difference between ‘absolute’ and ‘relative’ surplus value?
The MARX MEMORIAL LIBRARY unpicks the two principal ways in which capitalists maximise the difference between what they put into the workplace and workforce – and the much greater profits they get out
PERFECTLY ILLUSTRATED: Unionised GMB workers rally outside the Amazon fulfilment centre in Coventry during a strike in January 2023
Following the historic ban on companies profiting from children’s care, Unison Cymru calls for transparency in implementing the changes and extending the reform to create a truly national, profit-free care service, says MARK TURNER
The left must confront both far-right bigotry and the undeniable problems the exploitation of migrant workers by the ruling class creates — but there are few lessons from the global left on how to strike this balance, laments NICK WRIGHT
STEPHAN BLUM presents the evidence that wine was enjoyed by common folk, independent of upper-class celebrations and religious rituals
The series unveils uncomfortable truths about youth alienation and online radicalisation — but the real crisis lies in austerity and the absence of class consciousness in addressing young people’s disillusionment, says teacher ROBERT POOLE
Our delegation found a small but brave and bold socialist nation that has withstood imperialist machinations and poisonous slander to make impressive leaps in healthcare and women’s rights, reports VETERANS FOR PEACE
Born from my communist social worker mother’s efforts to bridge healthcare gaps, Labour’s push for home-based care now risks becoming another avenue for the US corporate takeover of the NHS, writes RICHARD CLARKE
LET’S start with a recap on “surplus value.” Before Marx, economists recognised the key importance of work — a distinctive feature of our species — to the creation of everything that humans need to survive.
What Marx added is the recognition that under capitalism, in “selling” labour power (their capacity to work) to any employer, workers receive less than the value they produce.
The difference — “surplus value” — is taken by the owners of capital, some of which is invested in more capital (“capital accumulation”) enabling them to extract more surplus value; for the capitalist, this is a virtuous cycle, underlying the extraordinary dynamism of capitalism.
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