A Stranger to Marxs Estranged Labor Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

A Stranger to Marxs Estranged Labor - Essay Example Karl Marx's Theory of Alienation gives us an idea about the dehumanizing effects of capitalism that affects the worker in the society. Marx's idea of worker alienation pertains to the worker being deprived of all his fundamental human qualities as a result of the production process.As the society develops, people become alienated and estranged from his work, his being, and his society. In his essay â€Å"Estranged Labor† from the Economic and Philosophical Manuscripts of 1844, Marx saw how the whole society must falls apart into two classes — property owners and propertyless workers. As a writer and journalist struggling to make a living, his observations on Germany’s poor and oppressive condition greatly influenced his writing ideas (Wheen, 2001). Marx saw how rich factory owners have set antagonistic conditions towards workers who are subjected to a mechanized process of production. He argues that in contrast to the pre-capitalist period wherein the worker owns the means and ways of production, the workers in capitalist societies have no control over the entire production process. As a result, Marx observed that â€Å"the object which labor produces confronts as something alien† because the product does not belong to the worker anymore. This paper aims to examine the capitalist society’s alienation of the worker and how our modern society alienates the worker from his product, its labor process, from his fellow workers and eventually from himself. By looking at the four aspects of alienation, I will be able to examine and apply his ideas in relation to my work. In this way, I will be able to verify the truthfulness of his ideas in my own experiences at the workplace. Estranged Labor: The Wordplay The word â€Å"estranged† is peculiar. It’s from a late 15th century old French word estranger which means â€Å"to treat as a stranger† or extraneus in Latin (Barnhart, 1988). Nowadays however, the word has tak en a different form to mean from â€Å"being removed from customary environment or associations† to a more interesting definition â€Å"to arouse especially mutual enmity or indifference in where there had formerly been love, affection, or friendliness† (Mirriam-Webster, 2011). It is this later form that Marx uses in his theories, and what he thinks will eventually lead to the uprising of the workers. From Small Shop Owners to Factory Workers The idea about the worker being alienated from the product, the process, his fellow workers and eventually from himself is understandable. In pre-capitalist society a worker would start his day by producing his own goods at his shop. It could be a weapon, a shoe, a tool or a simple an agricultural commodity. He would set out in his own speed and choice of production process. He would be able to change his production method or style as he communicated with his buyers. He would choose a payment to satisfy his own simple lifestyle an d to make sure that he had enough money to function in society. If he needed more money he might improve his products, perhaps develop new designs or qualities to enhance the function of his product. He would always be in close cooperation with the people around him and the society as he is greatly dependent upon them for the growth and development of his business. The kind of society I just described differs a great deal from the society we live in nowadays. Modern workers are not a part of the development process of the products they make. Usually, people produce things now in factories where they perform repetitive and closely monitored labor tasks by their managers and employers. This makes the entire process of work â€Å"impersonal† or â€Å"alien† to the worker. Worse, they are most often paid a low salary that does not reflect what they produce, but manages the capitalist to make a hefty profit. There would most often be fierce competition among fellow workers to get bonuses or a less meaningless job function. From this comparison over the state of workers in