Alienation,
Introduction
Alienation, according to Marx, is the state of mind that is subject to change. Marx views alienation as the objective process which develops from the reality that individuals experience in a capitalist society. This paper will assess the concept of alienation by analyzing how alienation occurs in contemporary society. Although Marx’s society is different from contemporary society, there are similarities in the way estrangement occurs. Alienation is a process that comes into existence through the forces of production of any given country. The forces and means of production determine which individuals have control over a thing or process. Marx derives alienation from the relations of production existing in a capitalist society. A capitalist society, according to Marx, creates conditions necessary for alienation to emerge. In general, workers in a capitalist society are forced by the necessity of subsistence, and lack of ownership overproduction means selling their labor power to someone else as a commodity. The document will view alienation as economic and social conditions of the society.
In my view, alienation occurs in different phases. A man becomes estranged in different forms. He has to be estranged from himself, fellow men, and the world. Individuals are forced to engage in activities that will sustain them economically, socially, and politically. Their personal beliefs are not considered when participating in particular activities. For example, individuals hold membership in churches whose creeds they do not believe in. These individuals believe that membership to church will give them respectability and social prestige.
In the same way, individuals have economic and political activities that they engage in not because they believe in them, but because society has created conditions for these conditions. Work and the products of work dominate individuals rather than the other way round. Word, especially in American society, is a place where individuals go to obtain money rather than fulfill their potential. This has made individuals workers of the capitalist society in which they do not own the tools and means of production.
Explication
Karl Marx asserts that there are struggles in wages between the capitalists and the workers. The capitalist in society determines the wages, and the worker will always rely on the capitalist since they cannot live without them. The capitalists can create relationships between themselves since they own the land and have an industrial advantage (Marx 03). The workers, on the other hand, do not have either the rent on interest on capital, and they will always compete. For this reason, there is a separation of rent, capital, and labor in the lives of the worker. The worker may not gain when the capitalist gains, but he loses when the capitalist loses. A few hands accumulate capital
According to Marx, workers experience alienation through the estrangement from the product of labor. The commodities that workers produce do not belong to them but belong to other individuals and are produced for other individuals. Separation is present through the product that the worker produces. The product becomes an alien object through the lack of control or ownership over the product (Marx 28). The more the worker produces, the less they own, and the more powerless they become. The worker has no right to own or control the products that they produce and are not entitled to the exchange value that is received ion the market. When the worker works more, they increase productivity, and the capitalist becomes more enriched. The products that the worker produces, therefore, increase the wealth, power of the capitalist who controls the fruits of the worker’s labor and controls the worker through the labor power. Workers help the capitalist society preserve the modes of production, thus working against their interests, thus creating the separation.
The second alienation occurs through the lack of control over the production activity. Having no control over the process of production implies that one does not have control over the means of production and the work that they are involved in. The estrangement of product activity occurs through the lack of control of the worker to how production is planned, what is produced, and how the product is produced. This alienation takes force through the definition of the work to the worker by the management or the capitalists (Marx 30). The worker does not have a say on how different modes of production should relate to each other. The fact that they do not own only means of production, they are forced to sell the one thing that they own so that they can survive. The labor-power is the only thing they own, and their work is not voluntary but forced labor.
The third form of alienation is the separation from the human essence/species-essence. Marx asserts that labor is a conscious life activity for humans. By nature, human beings are creative conscious beings, and they realize themselves through the products that they produce. Objectification occurs through the manipulation of nature through the use of the conscious life activity to see the human being as subjects about nature and to make real their conscious thoughts (Marx 33). Animals use their instincts to meet their needs and for survival. Human beings, on the other hand, operate and meet their needs through the use of the conscious mind to transform nature into objects. Human being alienates themselves from their human nature to create things that they want through the perspective that their species-essence provide them. In a capitalist society, the free conscious activity is transformed into labor in which it is a means to an end. Marx asserts that by taking from man his object of production, alienated labor takes species-life and his objective existence as a species.
The last form of alienation is derived from the fact that human being is estranged from their nature which Marx refers to as social. In a capitalist society, an individual is alienated from the product, the process of production, from themselves and others. The social relations of human beings are alienated since human being by nature is social (34). Estrangement from others occurs through the competition and hostility that occur between workers and the members of the society. Every individual views the other in the standard and to which they find themselves as workers. In a capitalist society, competition occurs in places of work and the struggle for promotions. Full employment is not possible in a capitalist society; this puts workers in a competition to sell their labor-power as a means to an end.
As noted in the introduction, Marx’s theory of alienation occurs in contemporary society in different forms. The theory can be used to understand the connection between work and the nature of man. Pleasure and happiness can be derived in a society that work is absent (Mészáros 15). Work is, therefore, not a voluntary process but a process that is enforced by the conditions created by society. The nature of work can be described as the estrangement of a worker from himself, others, their product, and the process of production. In contemporary society, productive property and the means of production are privately owned. Individuals in contemporary society are forced to sell their labor-power to others. Individuals do not like to work and will seek the easiest ways to avoid selling their labor-power to the capitalists. In my view, this has resulted in the rise of other means of existence, such as gambling.
Alienation in society occurs in different ways. For example, a successful man will alienate himself towards others as far as the success continues. The individual pays a huge price in the process of sustaining success (Shah 44). Individuals in contemporary society do not feel the pressure of this alienation until they are in a crisis. Alienation in society occurs at different levels. The society is divided into the haves and the haves not. The haves in the capitalist society, like the United States, own the means of production and have a say in the process of production. The haves does not sell their labor-power to these individuals in an attempt to meet their needs. This leads to alienation towards others. In a society in which man is supposed to be social, he is forced to compete with others for employment and to other opportunities.
The United States, as a capitalist society, has the minority owning the means and defining the process of production. The economic, social, and political conditions are determined by the minority that owns the means of production. Although the state is created to balance and bring neutrality in society, there is still the existence of classes in society (Giritli and Katarina 398). Individuals are made to sell their labor powers to the government for the government to offer them security and other social protections. Money is another factor in contemporary society that has robbed society and humans their natural values. The capitalist society presents a selfish society in which the policies and the laws created are to benefit the capitalists who own the means of production and have a say to the process of production.
In conclusion, the paper presents the Karl Marx’s view on alienation and the applicability of the theory in analyzing the connection between man and work in contemporary society. Work is considered as an external factor in the human beings in which they do not voluntarily engage in activities. Workers feel miserable and unhappy; thus, he sells his labor-power to others who own the means of production. In contemporary society, man is alienated by the fact that they have been left behind by other individuals who own the means of productions. The capitalist owns the means of production and controls the production process. People find themselves competing for promotions in contemporary society since there are no assured positions for employments in a capitalist society. Alienation, therefore, occurs in society due to labor. Individuals feel alienated from themselves, the product, the process of production, and others because they do not own the means of production and the process of production. They are, therefore, forced to sell labor power and compete with others for scarce opportunities.
Work cited
Mészáros, István. Marx’s theory of alienation. Aakar Books, 2006.
Marx, Karl. “Economic and philosophical manuscripts.” Early writings 333 (1844).
Shah, Muhammad Iqbal. “Marx’s Concept of Alienation and Its Impacts on Human Life’.” Al-Hikmat 35 (2015): 43-54.
Nygren, Katarina Giritli, and Katarina L. Gidlund. “The pastoral power of technology. Rethinking alienation in digital culture.” Marx in the Age of Digital Capitalism. Brill, 2016. 396-412.