The driving force of The Law of Value, compels all societies to adapt to the material conditions they face, by continually raising labour productivity, so as to relax the constraint that the scarcity of labour places on its production, and, thereby, consumption. In turn, this drive to raise productivity leads to changes in the method of production. Societies quickly learn to utilise a division of labour, some hunting and gathering, some engaged in horticulture/agriculture, some in pottery production, others cloth and so on. As Marx notes, contrary to Adam Smith, this division of labour occurs long before the existence of trade, and is a precondition for it.
But, it is these changes in production technique, to continually raise productivity that, also, then, drive changes in productive relations, in distribution relations, in the method and nature of exchange and consumption. Engels notes, in relation to Production and Exchange,
“Each of these two social functions is subject to the influence of what are for a large part special external factors, and consequently each has, what are also for a large part its own special laws. But on the other hand, they constantly determine and influence each other to such an extent that they might be termed the abscissa and the ordinate of the economic curve.” (p 186)
The mode of production that evolves in each society, is no more the consequence of an act of conscious will by the members of that society than the fact that, in conditions of soot blackened trees, during the Industrial Revolution, species of moth become considerably darker than they had been, so as to better be camouflaged. The moths did not consciously decide to be darker to better be camouflaged, it was simply that the darker one's survived and passed on their genetic characteristics, which, in turn, became enhanced in future generations, i.e. the darker ones of the next generation survived, and so on.
But, likewise, the material conditions facing societies, at different times, and in different places, are also not the same. When the use of coal for fuel ended, in the 1960's and 70's, and air pollution was, thereby, greatly reduced, in Britain, the moths that had evolved to be darker now began to become lighter again, because it was the darker moths that were less well adapted to the changed cleaner conditions. Similarly, in the process of social development, some societies faced harsher conditions, some more favourable conditions for production, and that influenced their allocation of scarce labour, and production decisions.
Settled agriculture, and with it civilisation, began in the Nile Delta, and in Mesopotamia. It was facilitated by the natural material conditions of the weather, and rich alluvial soils. It meant that labour expended on this activity was highly productive. Indeed, the productivity of this labour meant that sufficient food and agricultural products could be produced, whilst releasing labour for other activities. The society, also, needed to understand the regular times in which the river flooded, for example, which led to a study of astronomy. It, also, meant a requirement for skilled builders and architects, to produce earthworks and so on, which becomes a feature of all such societies based on the Asiatic Mode of Production.
The story of Joseph, in The Old Testament, is apocryphal, in the way it describes the way an understanding of these regular cycles enabled some to prosper, and to form themselves, over a very long period of time, into a ruling caste/dynasty. But, for example, in relation to the Pharaohs, it also illustrates the limitations. The facility to produce the basis consumption needs, particularly once the construction of various earthworks are completed, released large amounts of labour for other purposes, but to what effect? It was long thought that the huge amounts of labour required to build the pyramids was done by slave labour, but we now know that they were built by the free labour of highly skilled masons. The immense and accumulating wealth of the pharaohs, resulting from their appropriation of the surplus labour of society, had little scope for its use, outside the continual amassing of treasure in precious metal ornaments, and ever grander buildings.
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