| This question <78|73> overall <68|70> Angus: <21|105>. |
| Question 174: What does it matter whether exploitation follows from alienation, or alienation follows from exploitation? (Define these terms.) |
| [69] Angus: Alienation and Exploitation According to the American Heritage dictionary, exploitation is the utilization of another person for selfish purposes. The same dictionary defines alienation as a state of estrangement between the self and the objective world, or between different parts of the personality. A true capitalist is not interested in use values, but only in exchange values, in increasing profits. |
| In slave societies, exploitation of workers is common, undisguised and even encouraged. A slave works for his master in return for food and shelter. However, under capitalism, labor is supposed to be exchanged with the capitalist, but there is still exploitation. Marx is saying that despite freedom of competition, exploitation still takes place. True capitalism always pays the worker less than what the value of his labor is actually worth. If this fails to happen, capitalism cannot continue, therefore capitalism encourages exploitation. |
| In a capitalist society, a worker is not only alienated from his work, but also the products he is producing, and in doing so eventually becomes alienated with himself. Under capitalism a worker has littler control over his work, that is he does not usually choose what to produce or how to produce it. These are chosen for him. In working he does not fulfill himself, but degrades himself. The worker is forced to perform routine and repetitious acts, which do not give him any satisfaction in his work. He is mentally degraded by the repetitious and trivial activities performed in factories. The products of a person's labor will soon dominate the worker because he produces commodities but cannot consume them. |
| Therefore, it does not matter whether exploitation follows from alienation, or alienation follows from exploitation. By exploiting the worker, capitalism alienates the worker from himself; and by alienating the worker from himself capitalism dehumanizes the worker into becoming a mere animal. |
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