Page "Reproduction (economics)" Paragraph 13

Marx's argument is that by producing an output value with their labour which equals the equivalent of their own wage plus a surplus value ( or gross profit ) appropriated by capitalists, waged workers accomplish many of the processes involved at the same time.

Part of the role of the state is to secure those general ( collective ) conditions for the reproduction and maintenance of society which individuals and private enterprise cannot secure by themselves for one reason or another ( for example, because they transcend competing interests, because they are too costly for private agencies, because it is technically not possible to privatize them, or because they are not sufficiently profitable or too risky ).

Ecologists would nowadays probably add as a " reproduction condition " good stewardship for the physical environment.

Sustainable development cannot occur, if the natural environment is constantly depleted without being restored.