Alienation - Reality in Capitalism

 Qn. Marx's concept of 'alienation' is an essential part of the reality of Capitalism. Explain.

Marx in his 'The Economic and Philosophic Manuscripts', argued that alienation is the chief characteristic of the capitalistic order. The class divisions generated by the existence of capitalist private property are the basic source of such alienation. The worker class is alienated from the fruit of labor which is expropriated by the capitalist as profit. This in turn again becomes the source of exploitation and domination by the Capitalist class. 

More than this, the whole technological infrastructure of industry takes an alienated character. Rather than the machine being an extension of their human powers, workers become an appendage of the machine, they are incapable of employing technology for their own direct human benefit. All of these various forms of alienation achieve their highest and most tragic character in self-alienation.

The natural human ability to comprehend reality is quite literally separated from the workers by the conditions of their lives and replaced by a false perception of reality. Worker's submission develops forms of consciousness that prevent them from even grasping the true reality of their condition, much less from changing it.

Satisfactory and fulfilling labor is not possible under Capitalism. The reason was the lack of control the workers had over the productive processes. The worker had no voice to decide when, how, and where to work, but merely obeyed the boss' command.

Capitalism has necessitated the 'division of labor' and 'specialization of skills' which in turn prevented the full development of all his talents thereby stifling his potential. A laborer had no control over the final product of his labor. The nature of the productive process divides the workers and sets them against one another. They no longer conceived their work as a great, collective human project.

Marxists consider individuals to be fully human only when they develop and express their potential through satisfying labor. In a Socialist state, the division of labor would be abolished ending the alienation and monotony. The devaluation of the human world grows in direct proportion to the increase in value of the world of things. Labor not only produces commodities, it also produces itself and the workers as a commodity and it does so in the same proportion in which it produces commodities in general.

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