Means of production

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Means of production are the resources or tools that workers need to use in order to produce. They may include land, plants, machinery, equipment, tools, raw materials, and so on. The means of production is the sum of the subject of labor (raw materials) and instruments of production. In the capitalist mode of production, the bourgeoisie owns the means of production even though the proletariat does most of the work.

Template:Quote If we examine the whole process from the point of view of its result, the product, it is plain that both the instruments and the subject of labour, are means of production, and that the labour itself is productive labour.

The means of production include:

  • the natural resources (land, forests, water, subsoil, raw materials);
  • the instruments of production, which allows the transformation of natural resources;
  • the facilities necessary for the productive activity: industrial factories, mining facilities, etc.;
  • the means of transport and also communication;
  • the means of exchange between members of society: facilities necessary for distribution (warehouses, sales stores) and credit organizations (banks).