Estranged Labor

Estranged Labour by Karl Marx writes about how the through private property, division of labor, and wages, man has become less than a man and has been alienated by from his own natural purpose. He shows that the society of his day was split into two classes, the property owners and the workers who were "propertyless".

He starts by stating that people always viewed this alienation to be accidental. Man would lose his sense of self as he became more of a slave while he works for others and has no value to his life. Marx believes this to be far from accidental and a guaranteed outcome in an industrial society where labor is viewed as a resource to be manipulated and made most efficient without any concern for the laborer.

Marx believes people are devalued in an inverse relationship with the amount they produce. The more they produce, the less their skills are valued and the less one will get paid. As the person produces a surplus of goods, he may find himself struggling to afford the most basic supplies for his life since he is but a cog in the wheel of the machine of industry. In fact, he becomes a slave to the system since he can not afford to improve his lot in life and needs his job just to feed his family on a daily basis. His labor is less and less skilled as his job is more and more automated or made efficient. He can be replaced easier should he demand more money or be fired since his job only requires a basic understanding to make a large surplus.

I found it interesting when he mentions the comparison of his labor to that of his worship with God. I have studied philosophy and Marx's view that religion is the opiate of the masses. I am agnostic and I think religions are based on man's obsession with his own mortality and the fear of it. Just like his miserable life as a laborer, Marx suggests that man devotes his life to God while improving nothing in his own condition except the hope for a better life in his own death. I know religion is a personal choice and I am just saying I agree with his premise that God does nothing for man accept pacify his natural tendencies to create a better life in the present.

I also found the idea that a worker finds no satisfaction in producing surplus goods for other's profits an interesting point. Marx finds no value in work that brings no direct benefit to the person who creates something. A laborers end result is not ownership of a good or service but instead he is just a conveyor belt to an industrial process. I would argue if a person finds nobility in his work or satisfaction in doing a good job, that can be special too. I was a Marine and certainly I was property of Uncle Sam. But I also enjoyed finding satisfaction in my attempts to do the best job possible. Money was not my motivator, though in the civilian world, enough money is plenty motivating for many people. I would suggest a modern worker would most often be paid more in a developed country and thus find his personal time to be his reward since he me create the world he desires through his wages. Not all people make a lot of money for every job, but the standard of living has gone up for many people in the modern world and I feel technology will probably bring the standard of living up in most third world countries too eventually.

Bruce B