The General Formula for Capital can be described in the following notation C - M - C, where C = commodities and M = money. The normal flow of the economy is C - M - C. But, for the capitalist, the flow is M - C - M. The capitalist sees the process of life as beginning and ending with money. This makes the capitalist different from the shopkeeper. The shopkeeper is trying to provide goods and services to help humankind, while the capitalist is trying to make more money. One way of living is people oriented while the other is money oriented.
The capitalist is trying to increase his share of money through this process. This can be formulated as M1 - C - M2, where M1 is an initial sum of money and M2 is a sum greater than M1. The problem for the capitalist is that they must ensure themselves a profit. Marx contends that this is impossible if they are content with the mere exchange of equivalent values (read as "a fair price").
G. Scott Harrison
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