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[101] Thugtorious: In response to ADHH's answer [99], I think that the flaw lies
within the explanation of the answer. First off, I think
that we need to aggregate the idea of “character flaw,” not
as in each person, but as a species in its entirety. Is it
a character flaw of human beings to be lazy in an
exploitative system? And, I think that it is not a flaw of
humans, but a flaw of the system itself. Erich Fromm in
“Marx's Concept of Man” argues that Marx believed that
humankind “found him/herself” in production. Commodities
are the product of production, and workers leave a part of
themselves in that commodity vis-à-vis production.
However, within capitalistic production, “the objects of his
own work become alien beings, and eventually rule of him,
become powers independent of the producer. 'The laborer
exists for the process of production, and not the process of
production for the laborer'.” (Fromm, 1994, p. 48). Since
the product of production is stripped away from the laborer,
they are unable to experience the true satisfaction and
realization of what they created. From this, the laborer
does not find anymore joy in production; they see the
commodities produced and the process itself as “alien” to
them. So if anything, laziness is a byproduct of
capitalistic production. Further more, I think that Marx
would've argued that monetary incentives for efficiency are
a symptom of this ill-fated system. Instead of laborers
finding joy and growth within production, they are duped
into over-valuing money and jaded towards production. That
is the flaw as I see it within the answer. Not that you
were wrong in your explanation, but the focus on monetary
incentives is indicative of the “character” flaw itself.
Marx wanted people to value production itself, to enjoy
creating something from the world around them and grow from
that experience. He did not want people to find joy purely
in accumulating “things,” including money. |
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