The master decides whether, when, how, and how much of the slaves’ output will be returned to the slave for the latter’s reproduction (food, clothing, shelter, etc.). This result can be expressed by dividing the length of the slaves’ working days into two portions: one is the portion whose products are returned to the slaves for their consumption. Marx called this the slaves’ “necessary labor.” The second portion of the slaves’ labor yields products kept and used by the master; Marx called this “surplus labor.” It was labor done by slaves beyond that necessary for whatever level of
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