Karl Marx (1818–1883)

Insofar as the surplus-value that makes up capital Number 1 arose when labor-power was bought with part of the original capital, a transaction that conformed to the laws of commodity exchange and, legally speaking, presupposed nothing but that on the side of the capital relation, the worker could do what he wanted with his skills, while on the other side, the money or commodity owner could do what he wanted with the value he owned; furthermore, insofar as surplus capital Number 2 is merely the result of surplus capital Number 1 and therefore a consequence of the relation described above; and, finally, insofar as all transactions continue to conform to the laws of commodity exchange, which means the capitalist continues to buy labor-power, and the worker continues to sell it (at its actual value, we will assume), the law of appropriation or private property based on commodity production and circulation is obviously inverted into its direct opposite by its inexorable inner dialectic.

We will recall that when new machines are introduced or old machines are enlarged, part of the variable capital is transformed into constant capital. The apologists take this operation, which "fixes" capital, thereby setting workers "free," and turn it around. According to them, it sets capital free for the workers. Only now are we in a position to fully appreciate the apologists' shamelessness. For the workers directly cast aside by machines aren't the only ones set free: so are their future replacements and also the additional contingent regularly absorbed when, supported by its old foundation, industry expanded as usual. Old capital isn't set free for workers, but workers are set free for "additional" capital.