Thefactthatthespecifickindoflabourisirrelevantpresupposesahighlydevelopedcomplexofactuallyexistingkindsoflabour,noneofwhichisanymoretheall—importantone。Themostgeneralabstractionsariseonthewholeonlywhenconcretedevelopmentismostprofuse,sothataspecificqualityisseentobecommontomanyphenomena,orcommontoall。Thenitisnolongerperceivedsolelyinaparticularform。Thisabstractionoflabouris,ontheotherhand,bynomeanssimplytheconceptualresultantofavarietyofconcretetypesoflabour。Thefactthattheparticularkindoflabouremployedisimmaterialisappropriatetoaformofsocietyinwhichindividualseasilypassfromonetypeoflabourtoanother,theparticulartypeoflabourbeingaccidentaltothemandthereforeirrelevant。Labour,notonlyasacategorybutinreality,hasbecomeameanstocreatewealthingeneral,andhasceasedtobetiedasanattributetoaparticularindividual。ThisstateofaffairsismostpronouncedintheUnitedStates,themostmodernformofbourgeoissociety。
Theabstractcategory\"labour\",\"labourassuch\",laboursansphrase,thepointofdepartureofmoderneconomics,thusbecomesapracticalfactonlythere。Thesimplestabstraction,whichplaysadecisiveroleinmodempoliticaleconomy,anabstractionwhichexpressesanancientrelationexistinginallsocialformations,neverthelessappearstobeactuallytrueinthisabstractformonlyasacategoryofthemostmodernsociety。ItmightbesaidthatphenomenawhicharehistoricalproductsintheUnitedStates——e。g。,theirrelevanceoftheparticulartypeoflabour——appeartobeamongtheRussians,forinstance,naturallydevelopedpredispositions。
Butinthefirstplace,thereisanenormousdifferencebetweenbarbarianshavingapredispositionwhichmakesitpossibletoemploytheminvarioustasks,andcivilisedpeoplewhoapplythemselvestovarioustasks。AsregardstheRussians,moreover,theirindifferencetotheparticularkindoflabourperformedisinpracticematchedbytheirtraditionalhabitofclingingfasttoaverydefinitekindoflabourfromwhichtheyareextricatedonlybyexternalinfluences。
Theexampleoflabourstrikinglydemonstrateshoweventhemostabstractcategories,despitetheirvalidityinallepochs——preciselybecausetheyareabstractions——areequallyaproductofhistoricalconditionseveninthespecificformofabstractions,andtheyretaintheirfullvalidityonlyforandwithintheframeworkoftheseconditions。
Bourgeoissocietyisthemostadvancedandcomplexhistoricalorganisationofproduction。Thecategorieswhichexpressitsrelations,andanunderstandingofitsstructure,therefore,provideaninsightintothestructureandtherelationsofproductionofallformerlyexistingsocialformationstheruinsandcomponentelementsofwhichwereusedinthecreationofbourgeoissociety。Someoftheseunassimilatedremainsarestillcarriedonwithinbourgeoissociety,others,however,whichpreviouslyexisted。onlyinrudimentaryform,havebeenfurtherdevelopedandhaveattainedtheirfullsignificance,etc。Theanatomyofmanisakeytotheanatomyoftheape。Ontheotherhand,rudimentsofmoreadvancedformsinthelowerspeciesofanimalscanonlybeunderstoodwhenthemoreadvancedformsarealreadyknown。Bourgeoiseconomythusprovidesakeytotheeconomyofantiquity,etc。Butitisquiteimpossible（togainthisinsight）inthemannerofthoseeconomistswhoobliterateallhistoricaldifferencesandwhoseeinallsocialphenomenaonlybourgeoisphenomena。Ifoneknowsrent,itispossibletounderstandtribute,tithe,etc。,buttheydonothavetobetreatedasidentical。