Profit, Excess, Interest

Profit is a Surplus with respect to an initial investment.  But it is also an Excess--with respect to breaking even.  Thus, as has been previously discussed, the Profit-motive is open to the diagnosis that it is an expression of Greed, and, hence, a Vice.  Now, as the fundamental principle of Capitalism, it is a factor in all transactions.  But, one transaction in particular expresses the characteristic of a fundamental principle that it is for its own sake--charging Interest on a loan.   That expression is sharply defined since Interest quantifies the Excess entailed in Profit-seeking, i. e. with respect to an Interest-free loan.  Thus, Interest is the primary exemplar of Capitalism.  Now, Interest entails not only Excess, but Deficiency, i. e. that of the payer.  Thus, Interest is a Zero-Sum relation, or, in other words, the Profit that it entails is one-sided, not general.  Accordingly, by missing that Profit is an Excess, Marx also overlooks that the fundamental Capitalist contradiction is that between Excess and Deficiency in what is purportedly a unity, i. e. a Nation.