Summary of Estranged Labor
Karl Marx is usually recognized as an advocate for the Communist system and believes it is superior to our current Capitalist system. In Economic and Philosophical Manuscripts, he instead focuses on his reasoning behind why he believes that our current society based on Capitalism is flawed and in turn makes arguments towards why a different economic system would better benefit the workers. This ideal change would be to Communism. Marx explains the estrangement, or separation, of workers from their work and from the products of their labor, as the biggest flaw within the Capitalist system.
Marx begins by explaining the separation of a worker from their work and comes to the conclusion that, “the misery of the worker is in inverse proportion to the power and volume of his production” (Economic and Philosophical Manuscripts of 1844. Karl Marx). In other words the more the worker produces the more miserable he becomes. Similarly, the worker becomes poorer the more he produces because the more of one product there is, the less demand there is for that product, therefore the price will go down. The worker’s value also decreases the more wealth he produces. Marx says that labor produces workers as a commodity as well. The product then stands independent of the producer. The more time and energy the worker puts into his work, the more powerful the objective world becomes and the less the products belong to the producer. This is the estrangement from the objects. The worker becomes a slave of his object. He is given an object of labor or work which, in turn, provides a meaning to life. Workers begin to feel as though they need work for physical subsistence. It is less a means of life in the immediate day to day sense, but more so a cycle of laboring to produce objects that workers are estranged from. Increasing salary does not benefit workers either. It would be more or less raise pay for slaves, but would not increase the value of the worker or of their work.
This never-ending cycle leads to a loss of reality for the workers. They then begin to believe that work is not enjoyable but instead a chore. “[He] does not conform himself in his work, but denies himself, feels miserable and not happy” (Economic and Philosophical Manuscripts of 1844.). The worker feels himself when he is not working. This means that the labor is forced, therefore it does not satisfy a need but instead a way to satisfy other needs. Marx uses religion as an example of this alienation. He says that the human imagination in religion is not individual, but instead belongs to god or the devil. This is the same as the laborer, their work is not their own. It belongs to an outside force of power, therefore there is a loss of self. “The result [of this] is that the man (the worker) feels that he is acting freely only in his animal functions – eating, drinking, and procreating” (Economic and Philosophical Manuscripts of 1844.). Their short-term pleasures and everyday actions become their lives instead of what Marx believes we are destined to do—work, and he is certain that this should bring us pleasure.
I agree with Marx in the sense that work has become less of a purpose in life and more of a chore. I think that having a job and going to work is part of what life is about, but in the modern world, society teaches us that we are supposed to go to work in order to earn money which we then spend on products of others’ labor. We contribute to the never-ending cycle of estrangement from labor every single time we purchase an object made by workers stripped of their rights. Our goal in life should be to find a job that we are excited to go to, or at least feel like ourselves while working there. I agree that work may be the center of our lives and it is most of what our purpose as humans is, but also that it is important to make sure we are content with our lives, including our jobs. The problem that arises though is that our society is a corrupt capitalist system where profit is the most important part of labor. The joy gets lost along the way for the laborers who are estranged from their work and the products of their labor.
Works Consulted:
Economic and Philosophical Manuscripts of 1844. Karl Marx. N.p., n.d. Web. 18 Nov. 2014. <https://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1844/manuscripts/labour.htm>.
Karl Marx’s Creation of the Communist Movement
Karl Marx, while a powerful philosopher, sociologist, and historian, was arguably the most influential as an economic thinker and revolutionary socialist. Marx noticed the social unrest as the division of classes and power persisted within Capitalism, and strove to find a better economic system without such a large divide between social classes. He concluded that labor was no longer for the satisfaction of the workers, but instead controlled by the upper class and the constant demand for greater wealth and power. Through his studies he created and outlined, through his books, what he believed the ideal society would look like. This ideal society was Communism. One country where his observations and findings had a large impact was in Russia. His teachings inspired the formation of the Communist party who eventually succeeded in overthrowing what was the current Capitalist government. While Karl Marx was influential in many areas, his study of economics and the creation of the Communist movement were the most powerful as they inspired many societies and governments to change or consider changing the current social imbalance that may have been prominent in their society.
Marx’s work, particularly in economics, lead to much of the understanding we have of labor and its relationship to the government today. His theories about politics, society, and economics are known as Marxism. He believed that the Capitalist system was flawed and that it would eventually lead to a different system, called Socialism, following its own destruction. His critique of Capitalism unites the work he did throughout his life. One of the distinct features of Karl Marx’s theories is that they are all closely related (New Politics). Marx is known as one of the most influential figures in history as his theories influenced many individuals, labor unions, and politics.
Three of his main arguments against capitalism were the lack of ethical values, the estrangement of the workers from their labor, and the destruction of social life within the work force. The Capitalist system is based off of the unpaid labor of workers, meaning that the conditions in their workplaces may be inhumane and miserable or unethical. Even disregarding the conditions, the Capitalist system is unjust in the sense that it takes advantage of the laborers. This ties in to the second argument of the estrangement of workers from their labor. In Karl Marx’s first manuscript of his Economic and Philosophical Manuscripts called Estranged Labor, Marx explains how laborers are alienated from their work in a few different ways. The first is the idea that “the misery of the worker is in inverse proportion to the power and volume of his production” (Economic and Philosophical Manuscripts of 1844.). This means that the more a worker produces the more miserable he becomes. After stating this he goes on to explain how the more this worker produces, the less value the object is worth. He states that the worker becomes estranged from and a slave to his object. The objective and potentially superficial world becomes more powerful as these objects are purchased. Marx believed that human nature was and is to work and that human bodies have evolved to fit this purpose. He believed that work should not be a chore but instead a purpose in life, and it should be relatively enjoyable. If one believes that this argument is accurate then Capitalism does not support Marx’s value of labor. The destruction of social life shows how Capitalism reduces the value of the labor strictly to quantitative values such as how many of one product was produced. Human feelings and social life are more or less disregarded and “having replaces being” (New Politics).
After Marx made a clear argument against Capitalism, he, along with Friedrich Engles, wrote many articles as well as two well known books, including the Communist Manifesto, on the potential creation of his ideal Communist society. The Communist Manifesto was created in the 1850s around the time of political, economic, and social unrest particularly in Europe (History Today). These books outlined the path towards this ideal society. Marx believed that Capitalist societies sparked a demand for power and that the working class, or the proletariats, had an unfair advantage because they were paid minimal wages while the upper class kept most of the money for themselves. His idea was to create a Socialist government, meaning minimal government and government intervention, where the wages and profit would be shared equally. Because he thought that it is human nature to work and that this should be our means in life, he also believed that workers should be working for themselves and not for the Capitalists or the upper class. Ideally, everyone would work for the good of each other and themselves (History 20). This is what he deemed the perfect Communist society.
Marx’s thought was widely spread, known, and embraced in many countries including Russia throughout the early 1900s. The Russian revolution was said to have been built off of Karl Marx’s ideas. It started with the class struggles between the proletariats and the wealthy Capitalists. Social revolution followed closely the “directions” from Marx in the Communist Manifesto. In Paris in the 1870s the Paris Commune was created: a new form of political power for the working class. Though the Commune’s efforts were ultimately unsuccessful, Russian Revolutionaries preached Marx’s critique of the Paris Commune. He believed that old state-government structures including the police and military must be broken down and that a new power must be created. More simply, a society must “start over,” not attempt to change the current social or government structure. Conflict continued between the government and the newly formed Communist party, lead by Vladimir Lenin, and eventually the Communists overthrew the provisional government. A civil war broke out over Russia and eventually Lenin’s party gained government control (Worker’s World).
Through his Marxist ways of thinking surrounding economics, Karl Marx influenced the way in which many countries, including Russia, view their social dynamics and economics. He argued against Capitalism and in turn started the Communist movement. His teachings and theories were used as tools for revolutionaries during the Russian revolution. Karl Marx’s perception of a Communist society in theory seems perfect but when applied, problems arise surrounding the workers incentives. When corrupt leaders come into power, there can a loss of control or justice. Many argue that workers in more challenging jobs need higher pay in order to sustain their motivation. Others think that advancement of technology slows as the workers lose their incentives to work harder or perform better than their peers. Nevertheless, Karl Marx’s theories paved the way for future economic thinking.
Annotated Works Consulted:
Economic and Philosophical Manuscripts of 1844. Karl Marx. N.p., n.d. Web. 18 Nov. 2014. <https://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1844/manuscripts/labour.htm>.
This primary source, written by Karl Marx himself, provided background to the essay. He focuses on workers’ estrangement from labor which I mentioned when talking about the flaws within Capitalism.
History Today. N.p., n.d. Web. 19 Nov. 2014. <http://www.historytoday.com/roger-spalding/communist-manifesto>.
This source, written by Roger Spalding, explains Marx’s popular book The Communist Manifesto which focuses on his ideal society based on Communism. It explains the starting point for Communism. I used this source in my paragraph which focuses on why Marx was in favor of a Communist society.
History 20. N.p., n.d. Web. 19 Nov. 2014. <http://www.scs.sk.ca/cyber/elem/learningcommunity/socialsciences/history20/curr_content/history20/unit1/sec6_03.html>.
This History 20 website provided background to the Communist Manifesto which was used to elaborate on why Marx was in favor of Communism.
New Politics. N.p., n.d. Web. 18 Nov. 2014. <http://newpol.org/content/marx-and-weber-critics-capitalism>.
Michael Lowey compares and contrasts Karl Marx and Max Weber’s work while focusing on Marx’s opinion of Capitalism. This was used in my first paragraph to explain how he came to the idea of a Communist society.
Worker's World. N.p., n.d. Web. 19 Nov. 2014. <http://www.workers.org/ww/1998/revolution1119.php>.
Greg Butterfield explains how the Communist movement launched in Russia following Marx’s theories on the Paris Commune. This was used in the paragraph focusing on the Russian Revolution.
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