In a small town, a factory owner decides to cut wages for his workers despite the company making record profits. The workers, feeling exploited, organize a strike to demand fair compensation. In analyzing this situation through the lens of Marx's theory of exploitation in capitalism, which of the following statements best captures the underlying issue?

In this situation, the factory owner is maximizing profits while ignoring the needs of the workers, which highlights a key idea in Marx's theory of exploitation. According to Marx, exploitation occurs when workers produce value through their labor, but do not receive fair compensation for that value. The factory owner benefits from the workers' efforts by keeping wages low, even though the company is thriving financially. For example, if a worker produces goods worth a hundred dollars but only receives fifty dollars in pay, the owner is taking advantage of the worker's labor. This imbalance shows how capitalism can lead to unequal power dynamics, where the owners profit at the expense of the workers' well-being.