andie nachgeborenen : No, I understand Marx's argument perfectly well, Travis, I'm just trying to consider the question of the source of profits in a nonquestion-begging way. You can stipulate that all R&D funds, asset acquisitions, etc. and the like are embodied labor, and since that is a stipulation it cannot be disproven. Or proven. If you treat the LTOV/LV like that, then you have to show that looking taht things that way is useful in some way, explains or clarifies things.
^^^^^
CB: Marxists would differentiate themselves from this standard of "explain or clarify" for evaluating a tautological aspect of theory by adding that a theory must be useful in social practice. Marx's emphasis on human labor tends to empower the working class with a sense that workers are producing the wealth and are thereby justified in taking state power as a class.
How do your alternative tautologies enhance social practice, praxis ?