Karl Marx, by far, is one of the most interesting and influential writers of western thought. His thoughts on capitalism, ideology and the value of commodities have been completely insightful as it shows how culture has a big impact on literature. Specifically In his his work From Economic and Philosophic Manuscripts of 1844, Marx’s idea of the alienation of the worker is the most important idea as it expounds on the effects on the culture of that time. The alienation of the worker is due in part by the laborer producing a commodity and simultaneously becoming a commodity himself. “With the increasing value of the world of things proceeds in direct proportion the devaluation of the world of men” (653). The result of capitalism is the middle class (bourgeoisie) being commodified as the producer because his means of life revolves around his labor. The worker soon becomes a space to his object making his entire existence all about labor. Marx shows the seriousness of capitalism during his time in this piece by communicating to us what he believes the monopolies of capitalism has done to effect the lower class.

In Marx’s piece From The German Ideology, he gives us a sense on what ideologies mean and where it originates from. He uses the term camera obscura (“dark chamber”) to best explain ideology. It is like an obscured lens in which we see life one way but conceive it in another. It refers to his thesis that says “Life is not determined by consciousness, but consciousness by life” or that ideologies stem from life circumstances, ideologies do not determine life circumstances.

Lastly, in Capital, Marx expounds on this idea that the producer only becomes value within the art of exchange since the producers have no social relations with one another. The person has become materialized as the commodity they have created holds the value of their labor while the commodity carries social relations with its qualitative value. The idea of exchange is valuable to Marx’s idea as now the workers value stems from exchange and relations with one another. “Nevertheless, when the producers of coats and boots compare those articles with linen,or, what is the same thing, with gold and silver, as the universal equivalent, they express the relation between their own private labour and the collective labour of society in the same absurd form” (667).

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Karl Marx – From Economic and Philosophic Manuscripts of 1844

Karl Marx exposes the power structure of the political economy by explaining the relationship it has with the workers. The political economy, according to Marx, best serves the capitalists while taking advantage of the workers. Capitalism creates a division of two classes: property-owners and propertyless workers. What drives this political economy are what Marx calls the “avarice” and the “war among the avaricious—competition” (Marx 652). The competition between property owners who benefit from taking advantage of the workers are what drive this political economy and within this political economy is a movement between private property, avarice, labor, capital and land which is completely hidden.

The relationship between the worker and private property is simple: the worker creates a commodity while simultaneously becoming a commodity himself. As the commodity he creates continues to rise in value through his hard work, he himself is devalued. The product the worker creates is something alien: objectification of labor. The objectification of labor is the loss of reality for the workers, while appropriation is alienation from the independent power of the product. The worker becomes the product of his labor and alien to the object. “For on this premise it is clear that the more the worker spends himself, the more powerful the alien objective world becomes which he creates over-against himself, the poorer he himself—his inner world—becomes, the less belongs to him as a his own” (Marx 653). The very thing he creates is completely alien to him as it completely takes over his life while still managing to become devalued as a person.

The means of life, according to Marx, now surrounds his work as he creates an object. As he continues to be appropriated from the external world, the more he deprives himself of the means of life. The external world becomes surrounded and full of his work and ceases to be a world (in the immediate sense). As his world surrounds his work, he becomes a slave of his labor. “Therefore, it enables him to exist, first, as a worker; and, second, as a physical subject” (Marx 654). The political economy changes the human being into a different person. According to Marx, he is powerless, deformed, barbarous and dull all because of his work. It conceals the estrangement between the object and the worker.

Labor does not belong to his essential being, so within his work he becomes discontent and unhappy and is deprived of energy and is ruined in the mind. “He is at home when he is not working, and when he is working he is not as home” (Marx 655). This external labor is alienation that causes him to lose himself in the process of work. To Marx, work causes the loss of a person’s humanity.

Marx brings an interesting overview of what capitalism does to the character of the workers. I’ve heard many times that capitalism is good for people because they like the idea of working hard to achieve their goals to make what may be impossible, possible. In response to that, Marx (and myself) would say that its at the cost of your entire being. You are FORCED to do things that you don’t want to do in order to sustain your life. Living should be free, therefore, necessities (such as water) should be free as well. With capitalism commoditizing necessities, your life ends up having a price tag on it where you must work to sustain it. I believe that its good to have the drive to follow your passion and work hard, but you’re entire being should not be the cost to sustain yourself. Marx, being a socialist, would say that everyone has a right to live and so everyone should have access to there necessities and so everyone should have equal properties (food, shelter, clothing etc…). I think too many people have become used to capitalism that it has become a natural way of being to the point where its “good for you”. Capitalism is NOT good for anyone, as the economy goes down so do the lives of human beings in it. Dreams become harder to reach, people lose their humanity as they struggle to survive and moreover, commoditizing important necessities leaves those who cannot afford it helpless. It is difficult to have social mobility within this political economy as opportunities come with privilege. This is the way to keep the rich richer and the poor poorer.