Chris Hayes

Yes. I mean, I started reading Marx in high school, which is a weird thing to say, but it's true. Here's the basic argument Marx makes about labor. So he's living at this time where there's this new thing called wage capitalism, wage labor. People sell their labor per hour basis.

Totally. It's interesting. Yeah. So let's think about a cobbler, right? You're in the pre-industrial age. You got your little shop. You make a shoe. And there's a few things about this process that are distinct. One is there's a telos. There's an arc to it. You start with the raw materials. Then you put them together. Then you put the sole on. Then you put the finish on.

Totally. It's interesting. Yeah. So let's think about a cobbler, right? You're in the pre-industrial age. You got your little shop. You make a shoe. And there's a few things about this process that are distinct. One is there's a telos. There's an arc to it. You start with the raw materials. Then you put them together. Then you put the sole on. Then you put the finish on.

Totally. It's interesting. Yeah. So let's think about a cobbler, right? You're in the pre-industrial age. You got your little shop. You make a shoe. And there's a few things about this process that are distinct. One is there's a telos. There's an arc to it. You start with the raw materials. Then you put them together. Then you put the sole on. Then you put the finish on.

In the end, you have a shoe. And you own that shoe. And then you sell it in your store in exchange for money. Now, compare that experience to the wage laborer in a shoe factory who is at one position stamping soles 10 or 12 hours a day, six days a week. In both cases, you could say that the sort of pre-industrial cobbler and the shoe factory worker are both laboring.

In the end, you have a shoe. And you own that shoe. And then you sell it in your store in exchange for money. Now, compare that experience to the wage laborer in a shoe factory who is at one position stamping soles 10 or 12 hours a day, six days a week. In both cases, you could say that the sort of pre-industrial cobbler and the shoe factory worker are both laboring.

In the end, you have a shoe. And you own that shoe. And then you sell it in your store in exchange for money. Now, compare that experience to the wage laborer in a shoe factory who is at one position stamping soles 10 or 12 hours a day, six days a week. In both cases, you could say that the sort of pre-industrial cobbler and the shoe factory worker are both laboring.

But now there's this distinct thing called labor as a commodity that has a wage price and a set of institutions to take – the labor in exchange for that wage, and a set of technological and economic developments that produce a situation in which you go from being the cobbler who makes the whole shoe to being in a factory 12 hours a day stamping a soul.

But now there's this distinct thing called labor as a commodity that has a wage price and a set of institutions to take – the labor in exchange for that wage, and a set of technological and economic developments that produce a situation in which you go from being the cobbler who makes the whole shoe to being in a factory 12 hours a day stamping a soul.

But now there's this distinct thing called labor as a commodity that has a wage price and a set of institutions to take – the labor in exchange for that wage, and a set of technological and economic developments that produce a situation in which you go from being the cobbler who makes the whole shoe to being in a factory 12 hours a day stamping a soul.

And Marx talks about this as the root of alienation. You're just alienated from yourself, from your humanity. You're not doing a recognizably human thing. You're doing something that feels robotic and mechanical. But also that the value that you're creating is literally outside of you. I mean, to go back to the cobbler, when he makes the shoe, he actually owns the shoe.

And Marx talks about this as the root of alienation. You're just alienated from yourself, from your humanity. You're not doing a recognizably human thing. You're doing something that feels robotic and mechanical. But also that the value that you're creating is literally outside of you. I mean, to go back to the cobbler, when he makes the shoe, he actually owns the shoe.

And Marx talks about this as the root of alienation. You're just alienated from yourself, from your humanity. You're not doing a recognizably human thing. You're doing something that feels robotic and mechanical. But also that the value that you're creating is literally outside of you. I mean, to go back to the cobbler, when he makes the shoe, he actually owns the shoe.

If he wanted to make the shoe and give it to his kids, he could do that. And sometimes cobblers would, right? But the factory worker doesn't have that. The factory worker is alienated from the value of the shoe. He's stamping the sole. And when it goes down the line and it gets sold off somewhere else, it's literally outside of him. It's alien to him.

If he wanted to make the shoe and give it to his kids, he could do that. And sometimes cobblers would, right? But the factory worker doesn't have that. The factory worker is alienated from the value of the shoe. He's stamping the sole. And when it goes down the line and it gets sold off somewhere else, it's literally outside of him. It's alien to him.

If he wanted to make the shoe and give it to his kids, he could do that. And sometimes cobblers would, right? But the factory worker doesn't have that. The factory worker is alienated from the value of the shoe. He's stamping the sole. And when it goes down the line and it gets sold off somewhere else, it's literally outside of him. It's alien to him.

So this is the basic Marx labor theory of value, right? That you have this transformation in society, economic conditions, institutions that took a thing that was fundamentally human, effort, toil, whatever you want to call it, and transformed it into this new thing that was a commodity that could be priced and bought and traded.

So this is the basic Marx labor theory of value, right? That you have this transformation in society, economic conditions, institutions that took a thing that was fundamentally human, effort, toil, whatever you want to call it, and transformed it into this new thing that was a commodity that could be priced and bought and traded.

So this is the basic Marx labor theory of value, right? That you have this transformation in society, economic conditions, institutions that took a thing that was fundamentally human, effort, toil, whatever you want to call it, and transformed it into this new thing that was a commodity that could be priced and bought and traded.

Called labor. And I think basically there's something happening right now with attention that's similar. People have always paid attention to things. And that attention has always had some value. And, you know, there's people who have utilized that value for all kinds of purposes. P.T. Barnum, Mark Anthony, friends, Roman countrymen, lemon in your ears. You know, there's always been a value there.