Economic and Philosophic Manuscripts of 1844

Rent is a primary means by which capitalists extract wealth without having to work. They make money for reasons that have nothing to do with their skills or efforts but only the fact of ownership. The value of the land does in part depend on its fertility or the presence of other natural resources, but capitalism makes the mistake of confusing the value of whatever is on the land with the money due to the landowner for the use of that land, even though the landlord is in no way responsible for its value. Marx turns to the struggle between tenant and landlord, which he describes as the most important in ordering capitalist society. The goal of landlords is to provide their tenants with just enough to maintain a productive stock of materials and pay wages for laborers and other production costs, along with any profits commensurate with local practice. Everything else goes to the landowner, and it does not take long before rents match and then exceed the overall value of the property. Landlords are at an advantage because they have a permanent and exclusive claim on the property, so they can grant and without leases on its usage at their discretion.