Alienation is defined as “the transformation of people’s own labor into a power which rules them as if by a kind of natural or supra-human law” ("Marxism & Alienation"). This idea was developed by Marx in his 1844 Economic and Philosophical Manuscripts. He believes there are five dimensions and three sources of alienation which in commodities have powers to govern the activity of human beings. The first aspect of alienation is the product itself. This allows the capitalist to generate commodities that are fit for profit, not for the interests or needs of the workers. The capitalist at any time can speed up the needs of production or even replace workers with newer technology to gain maximum profit. In retail, product alienation is a big
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I consider selling production, since we are producing profit for the owner of the company. The intensity of selling is determined by the goals corporate determines. The third dimension of alienation is self-estrangement. The labor a person performs should be an expression of self-interest as well as meeting the community’s needs. But in a capitalist state, work is made for survival, not for “personal and social gratification” (Rinehart, 1986, p. 12). This aspect of capitalism eliminates the opportunity for self-expression. There is also alienation of human essence in capitalism. Humans have their own characteristics that are different from animals. We are able to pick our careers and jobs, but only for survival reasons. As humans in capitalism, we are not able to choose our career and jobs based on the needs of our community to improve it. The final form of alienation is human relations with others. Since laborers are being exploited, they cannot sympathize with the capitalist that exploits them. The capitalist cannot commiserate with their employees because of class structure. Also, workers cannot sympathize with one another because they are in competition between each …show more content…
Since I am a manager I feel like I am the middle man of the capitalist (corporate) and the working class (sales associates). There are demands from corporate that have to be met and my job depends on it. Sometimes the sales associates do not necessarily agree what corporate’s wishes are but as a manager it is tough to inforce rules and tasks that the associates don’t want to do. This creates tension between the managers and sales associates as well as corporate and managers. One of the sources of alienation is the concertation of ownership. The capitalist has ownership of the tools, land, and machines. It leaves the people who do not own the land, tools, and machines as the laborers. This creates as class division from the people who own the land (capitalists) and the people who make the product (working class). The capitalist also controls the amount of work a laborer makes Another source of alienation is class dependence. The working class relies on a job with an income to survive. A need for survival creates a competition between laborers. There is also competition in the capitalist class for
I consider selling production, since we are producing profit for the owner of the company. The intensity of selling is determined by the goals corporate determines. The third dimension of alienation is self-estrangement. The labor a person performs should be an expression of self-interest as well as meeting the community’s needs. But in a capitalist state, work is made for survival, not for “personal and social gratification” (Rinehart, 1986, p. 12). This aspect of capitalism eliminates the opportunity for self-expression. There is also alienation of human essence in capitalism. Humans have their own characteristics that are different from animals. We are able to pick our careers and jobs, but only for survival reasons. As humans in capitalism, we are not able to choose our career and jobs based on the needs of our community to improve it. The final form of alienation is human relations with others. Since laborers are being exploited, they cannot sympathize with the capitalist that exploits them. The capitalist cannot commiserate with their employees because of class structure. Also, workers cannot sympathize with one another because they are in competition between each …show more content…
Since I am a manager I feel like I am the middle man of the capitalist (corporate) and the working class (sales associates). There are demands from corporate that have to be met and my job depends on it. Sometimes the sales associates do not necessarily agree what corporate’s wishes are but as a manager it is tough to inforce rules and tasks that the associates don’t want to do. This creates tension between the managers and sales associates as well as corporate and managers. One of the sources of alienation is the concertation of ownership. The capitalist has ownership of the tools, land, and machines. It leaves the people who do not own the land, tools, and machines as the laborers. This creates as class division from the people who own the land (capitalists) and the people who make the product (working class). The capitalist also controls the amount of work a laborer makes Another source of alienation is class dependence. The working class relies on a job with an income to survive. A need for survival creates a competition between laborers. There is also competition in the capitalist class for