Marx, Alienation, and, Work
Marxism has defined the thinking of recent generations because it was the first philosophy to address the feeling of “alienation” that has become seemingly commonplace in the modern world.
But Marx’s shallow attempt at philosophical psychology misses the root cause of this estranged feeling.
It’s not that people are truly longing for utopia, or have been duped into accepting capitalism because of false consciousness.
Rather alienation arises from the absence of meaningful work.
Think about it.
Most of our collective life frustrations comes from the fact that our work doesn’t seem like it’s paying off existentially.
Which has nothing to do with capitalism and everything to do with our inability to appreciate the value of what we create.
Instead of taking the time to appreciate the things we make and do, our philosophical attention has been drawn toward figuring out which victim class we belong to — a perspective that is as existentially alienating as it is psychologically deflating. After all, people are not losers.
They are creatures of opportunity, capable of great things when those around them believe in and expect great things.
For even the most tedious tasks add to the collective satisfaction of happy customers.
And even the most menial customer service job provides others with the delight of another’s company.
And even more advanced jobs give us the opportunity to serve even more people by solving more complex problems and providing them with even more goods and services in ways that make the best things in life even more available.
And if more people shared this perspective, we could collectively build a world where work feels less like a burden and more like a calling.
A calling to contentment.
A calling to service. And a calling to something bigger and more purposeful than ourselves.
All of which would enrich everyone personally and existentially in ways that Marx’s stagnant utopia never could.
The problem, then, is not the economic system.
It is the poverty of our imagination.
Zigmund Reichenbach has an M.A. in Philosophy from West Chester University and is a professional advocate for less government. You can help him combat bad ideas in politics and philosophy by donating to his work at https://ko-fi.com/zigmundreichenbach .
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