How an economic system organizes the production, appropriation and distribution of its surplus neatly and clearly differentiates capitalism from other systems.
So then how should we define capitalism to differentiate it from alternative economic systems such as slavery, feudalism and a post-capitalist socialism? The answer is "in terms of the organization of the surplus." How an economic system organizes the production, appropriation and distribution of its surplus neatly and clearly differentiates capitalism from other systems.
Capitalism's organization of the surplus differs from both slavery's and feudalism's. The surplus producers in capitalism are neither property (slavery), nor bound by personal relationships (feudal mutual obligations). Instead, the producers in capitalism enter "voluntarily" into contracts with the possessors of material means of production (land and capital). The contracts, usually in money terms, specify 1) how much will be paid by the possessors to buy/employ the producer's labor power, and 2) the conditions of the producers' actual labor processes. The contract's goal is for the producers' labor to add more value during production than the value paid to the producer. That excess of value added by worker over value paid to worker is the capitalist form of the surplus, or surplus value.
While the capitalist, feudal and slave organizations of the surplus differ as described above, they also share one crucial feature. In each system, the individuals who produce surpluses are not identical to the individuals who appropriate and then distribute those surpluses. Each system shares a basic alienation - of producers from their products - located at the core of production. That alienation provokes parallel class struggles: slaves versus masters, serfs versus lords, and workers versus capitalists. Marx used the word "exploitation" to focus analytical attention on what capitalism shared with feudalism and slavery, something that capitalist revolutions against slavery and feudalism never overcame.
So, if I'm looking for a simple definition, it boils down to
"exploitation."
The article goes on to point out that the Keynesian vs neo-liberal system debate keeps the focus on the same organization of surplus, and therefore, continued exploitation.
The solution presented in the article is the proliferation of WSDEs: "Workers' Self Directed Enterprises." I think this is an interesting rabbit hole to spend some time in, myself.
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