Capitalism, in its ideal form, is an economic system meant to give consumers the opportunity to become producers of a product and sell goods to consumers without much government involvement. In practice, Marx, Weber, and Durkheim can attest to this economic system’s ability to benefit an opportunistic minority, while it disadvantages the majority, especially the working and lower class. These three classical theorists have varying views in what way capitalism ensnares the poor and how to break the recurring cycle, but all three theorists believe that capitalism benefits few and subjects the majority to a dependence on consumerism and the endless cycle of materialism and a lack of money. In “Fight Club”, the Narrator finds that his identity
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In other words, consumers do not acknowledge laborers behind the item that they are buying. These individuals value the products others own, especially when it’s a high commodity, over who the people are as individuals. Because the workers are not equitably valued in a capitalistic system, their worth is not valued because they cannot afford the valued commodities, nor will they have the opportunity to buy such things: “There is a definite social relation between men, that assumes, in their eyes, the fantastic form of a relation between things” (Marx 59). The workers’ social value depends solely on what they can afford, not what services they offer for profit. For example, Tyler Durden founded Fight Club with the Narrator in order to give men like the Narrator a chance to be more than a job title or a number in their bank account. Durden says “Our great war is a spiritual war…the people you [the white collars] depend on are the people who make your meals and take out your trash” as he’s making a speech to the members of Fight Club about being held to the same standard of fetishism of commodities and social expectations white collars can afford to have while they tolerate the monotonous lifestyles and dependence on the jobs keep white collars in the …show more content…
Durkheim writes, “Some generalizations, without point, about faithfulness and devotion workers all sorts owe to those who employ them, about the moderation with which employers must use their economic advantages, a certain reprobation of all competition too openly dishonest, for all untampered exploitation of the consumer; that is about all the moral conscience of these trades contains” (Durkheim 71). In other words, the employer expects his or her employees to be grateful for their jobs whether or not they are paid a reasonable wage, they condemn companies that are openly dishonest and exploit the consumer, yet their morality of the businesses promptly end there. However, Durkheim does not mention whether the employers exploit their workers. Tyler Durden would say that they do exploit the working class by not giving them a fair wage that enables the working and lower class the ability to attain a high status akin to a white collar status. However, Tyler Durden makes the point in the last paragraph that without the working and lower class doing the “menial” jobs that white collars do not want to do, they would not have the money and social status that they currently hold. Tyler Durden also makes this argument to a white collar man that he corners in the bathroom with a knife and a few of his men involved in Project
In other words, consumers do not acknowledge laborers behind the item that they are buying. These individuals value the products others own, especially when it’s a high commodity, over who the people are as individuals. Because the workers are not equitably valued in a capitalistic system, their worth is not valued because they cannot afford the valued commodities, nor will they have the opportunity to buy such things: “There is a definite social relation between men, that assumes, in their eyes, the fantastic form of a relation between things” (Marx 59). The workers’ social value depends solely on what they can afford, not what services they offer for profit. For example, Tyler Durden founded Fight Club with the Narrator in order to give men like the Narrator a chance to be more than a job title or a number in their bank account. Durden says “Our great war is a spiritual war…the people you [the white collars] depend on are the people who make your meals and take out your trash” as he’s making a speech to the members of Fight Club about being held to the same standard of fetishism of commodities and social expectations white collars can afford to have while they tolerate the monotonous lifestyles and dependence on the jobs keep white collars in the …show more content…
Durkheim writes, “Some generalizations, without point, about faithfulness and devotion workers all sorts owe to those who employ them, about the moderation with which employers must use their economic advantages, a certain reprobation of all competition too openly dishonest, for all untampered exploitation of the consumer; that is about all the moral conscience of these trades contains” (Durkheim 71). In other words, the employer expects his or her employees to be grateful for their jobs whether or not they are paid a reasonable wage, they condemn companies that are openly dishonest and exploit the consumer, yet their morality of the businesses promptly end there. However, Durkheim does not mention whether the employers exploit their workers. Tyler Durden would say that they do exploit the working class by not giving them a fair wage that enables the working and lower class the ability to attain a high status akin to a white collar status. However, Tyler Durden makes the point in the last paragraph that without the working and lower class doing the “menial” jobs that white collars do not want to do, they would not have the money and social status that they currently hold. Tyler Durden also makes this argument to a white collar man that he corners in the bathroom with a knife and a few of his men involved in Project