Arauz- Blog 2
Marx defines alienation as “the experience of part of oneself as alien…as separated from work, product of work, self, and others.” He claims that because the product the proletariat is making will not be for their own use, the proletariat is losing out. The proletariat loses out in time, effort, commodity, and the simple fact that another will be able to enjoy the use of the object that he spent on making the product. This, in fact, causes alienation between the proletariat and the product because he feels that the product is just a product and will not benefit him in any way--other than the wage he receives once the product is done. However, even that wage is not sufficient enough to equal their labor power.
This alienation can be related throughout the majority of jobs that people hold today. Because of our economy status, most people hold jobs that they wouldn’t necessarily call their “dream jobs”. In order to survive, they must accommodate to any jobs that are offered to them. These jobs become jobs and not necessarily an action that the person would do even if they were not paid for it. It is then that the feeling of alienation takes place. The job is done only for wage labor. The majority, give so much of their life to their job and realize that although they are getting paid for the completion of their work, their work is consuming more of them (energy, time), than it is of anything/anyone else—and that others will benefit more from all the effort they put into their work than the worker ever will. This consumption of energy and time from the worker can also lead to America’s top cause of illness—Stress—where the worker is the one losing out the most, once again. The feeling of alienation causes the workers to feel a disconnect between the product of their work and themselves. As Marx states, “What is animal becomes human and what is human becomes animal.” Humans become animals to their jobs-- I would call it more “machines” because what is asked of workers is not taking into consideration that these workers have lives and families to look after. To take a look at this a step further, in Ecuador, there are sweatshops where workers are not even given credit for their work. Sweaters and t-shirts are made with tag descriptions that say “Made in China”. A worker then feels alienated to the work put into their product that they are not even given credit for. This leads to my next topic—exploitation.
Marx defines exploitation as the extraction of surplus value…the difference between the value of what a worker receives in wages and that which is produced and appropriated by the capitalist. Exploitation most commonly happens in sweatshops. However, although sweatshops are the most common, they are not the only place where exploitation occurs. With the large influx of immigrants into the U.S. more and more people come in without a legal status. Illegal immigrants hold job positions that pay them “under the table”. Oftentimes, because their supervisors know that they do not have proper documentation to live in the U.S., they are taken advantage of. Because their supervisors know that they fear getting deported and will not rebel against what is asked of them, the supervisors take advantage by not paying them on time, not giving them a lunch/dinner break, or anything in relation to any of the rights that workers who are legal in the U.S. are supposed to have. Their pay is cut and they are usually given the “dirty work”. However, the work is done because compared to their native country, the pay here is a lot better—but not under favorable conditions.
Marx defines alienation as “the experience of part of oneself as alien…as separated from work, product of work, self, and others.” He claims that because the product the proletariat is making will not be for their own use, the proletariat is losing out. The proletariat loses out in time, effort, commodity, and the simple fact that another will be able to enjoy the use of the object that he spent on making the product. This, in fact, causes alienation between the proletariat and the product because he feels that the product is just a product and will not benefit him in any way--other than the wage he receives once the product is done. However, even that wage is not sufficient enough to equal their labor power.
This alienation can be related throughout the majority of jobs that people hold today. Because of our economy status, most people hold jobs that they wouldn’t necessarily call their “dream jobs”. In order to survive, they must accommodate to any jobs that are offered to them. These jobs become jobs and not necessarily an action that the person would do even if they were not paid for it. It is then that the feeling of alienation takes place. The job is done only for wage labor. The majority, give so much of their life to their job and realize that although they are getting paid for the completion of their work, their work is consuming more of them (energy, time), than it is of anything/anyone else—and that others will benefit more from all the effort they put into their work than the worker ever will. This consumption of energy and time from the worker can also lead to America’s top cause of illness—Stress—where the worker is the one losing out the most, once again. The feeling of alienation causes the workers to feel a disconnect between the product of their work and themselves. As Marx states, “What is animal becomes human and what is human becomes animal.” Humans become animals to their jobs-- I would call it more “machines” because what is asked of workers is not taking into consideration that these workers have lives and families to look after. To take a look at this a step further, in Ecuador, there are sweatshops where workers are not even given credit for their work. Sweaters and t-shirts are made with tag descriptions that say “Made in China”. A worker then feels alienated to the work put into their product that they are not even given credit for. This leads to my next topic—exploitation.
Marx defines exploitation as the extraction of surplus value…the difference between the value of what a worker receives in wages and that which is produced and appropriated by the capitalist. Exploitation most commonly happens in sweatshops. However, although sweatshops are the most common, they are not the only place where exploitation occurs. With the large influx of immigrants into the U.S. more and more people come in without a legal status. Illegal immigrants hold job positions that pay them “under the table”. Oftentimes, because their supervisors know that they do not have proper documentation to live in the U.S., they are taken advantage of. Because their supervisors know that they fear getting deported and will not rebel against what is asked of them, the supervisors take advantage by not paying them on time, not giving them a lunch/dinner break, or anything in relation to any of the rights that workers who are legal in the U.S. are supposed to have. Their pay is cut and they are usually given the “dirty work”. However, the work is done because compared to their native country, the pay here is a lot better—but not under favorable conditions.