Capitalism, Labor, Slavery

Insofar as Labor is classified as a species of Commodity, it is subject to any laws governing the latter. Thus, for example, according to the principle of profit-maximization, a purchaser of Labor will seek to acquire it as cheaply as possible. Now, as Marx discerns, the minimum expense entailed in the acquisition of Labor is the 'reproduction' of it, i. e. the provision of the minimum that suffices for productivity, e. g. slavery conditions, sweat-shop wages, etc. But, while Smith might not have considered consequences of his system that are immoral, according to Kantianism, post-Marx Capitalists have tended to ignore, obscure, or privately affirm them.