We explain what the means of production are and what types exist. Furthermore, the capitalist and socialist vision of the means of production.
What are the means of production?
The means of production are economic resources, also called physical capital which allows carrying out some work of a productive nature, such as the manufacture of a consumer item, or the provision of a service.
This term involves not only money, but also natural resources (raw materials), energy (generally electrical), transportation networks, machinery, tools, factories and everything necessary to keep the productive circuit running. It should not be confused with the modes of production which are the specific ways in which a society organizes its economic activities.
The means of production can be classified according to their participation in the production process, into two types:
- Means of direct participation They carry out production per se, thanks to the efforts of workers (operators, laborers, etc.), tools and production materials.
- Means of indirect participation Those that are not directly linked to production, but are essential for it to be carried out successfully, such as raw and processed material warehouses, transportation networks, general services, etc.
Means of production in Marxism
According to the philosophical and political doctrine created by Karl Marx, modern society is controlled by that social class that controls and owns the means of production. That would be, according to Marxism, the reason why the bourgeoisie emerged from the Middle Ages to become the new ruling class, taking advantage of the work of the working class (proletariat), dispossessed and whose only offer consists of its ability to work.
In this way, the transformation from capitalism to communism that Marx proposed would occur once the workers were, precisely, those who controlled the means of production instead of the bourgeoisie that exploited them. This was called the “Dictatorship of the proletariat.”
Capitalist means of production
According to Marxist theory, capitalism as a system is based on the appropriation by the bourgeoisie (private property) of the means of production: factories, machinery, tools, means of transportation and large investment capital. By owning the labor itself, so to speak, they can exploit the working class who offer their labor.
This exploitation of man by man consists of the commercialization of products and services produced by the working workforce, obtaining benefits that allow not only to keep the machinery running (reinvestment), which includes paying proletarians a salary per hour worked. , but also obtain economic surpluses (added value) that serve to maintain their privileged lifestyle.
Thus, according to Marx, capitalism would be a great machinery for exploiting other people's labor in exchange for a salary (money) that must be used to consume the products and services offered, in turn, by other workers exploited in turn by another segment of the bourgeoisie.
Socialist means of production
In the socialist system, at least theoretically, since It has never been possible to make it operate satisfactorily the means of production are controlled by the workers themselves who carry out production, without bourgeoisies parasitizing the surplus value generated.
Instead of just receiving a salary, in the socialist system workers receive part of the production achieved since there are no private owners of the means of production, but rather it belongs to everyone. In practice, this means that the means of production become managed by the State and its production is aimed at satisfying the specific needs of the population, instead of filling a consumer market for profit.
In this system there would be no surplus value, since the surplus production would go to the workers themselves and the need for capital in organized society could be eliminated.
