Tfw you finally start to read Capital

Commodity production is at its highest point in human-history, capitalists in the imperial core have just chosen to shift most production to the third-world where they can exploit without labor laws and minimum wages. In the void we porky’s labor aristocracy consumer class

Marx’s definition of productive labor is very broad too, so there’s a lot that goes on in the American economy that might not be classified under manufacturing that actually is productive. For instance, fast food isn’t counted as manufacturing or even as industry but it still is a productive job.

The US manufacturing economy in particular is actually very large being capitalized around $4 trillion. I once did some calculations using BLS statistics trying to find out how many people worked in productive industry in a total but conventionally limited sense. I believe I came up with about 20% or so or the workforce involved in it. I wouldn’t be surprised if it edged up to 25%-30% once you include those service jobs that are misclassified such as fry cooks.

fuck anprims

that which is given by nature and transformed by human labour, isnt that the definition of commodity. In that sense making burgers is definitely commodity production

that which is given by nature and transformed by human labour into something useful*

What do you suggest is fundamentally inapplicable from Marx's theory then to now?

Yeah, for sure, but the strange thing is bourgeois economists classify it as a service instead of commodity production. I mean even Smith would have classified burger flipping as productive labor.

A lot of Marxists don’t go any deeper than the surface presentation of bourgeois statistics tho. So if they say only 12% of the workforce works in manufacturing they’ll usually parrot that as proof that Marx’s theories need to be fundamentally updated to meet today’s conditions. They typically won’t even bother to add other productive industrial sectors to the equation like building, mining, agriculture etc. despite the material being readily available. They just think productive work=factory for some reason.

making burgers is imperialism

This, I didn't call myself Marxist prior to reading Marx, I just said I was socialist. Now I'm a Marxist, I've read two volumes of Capital and a bunch of other stuff.

leaving aside what other people said (they're right), transport and comms are a productive act. a number of things classed as "services" are actually production.