Alienated Labor

Philosopher Karl Marx utilizes the rhetorical strategy of explicit word usage to convey his message dealing with alienation. In one of his many writings, on "Alienated Labor," there is a clear and to-the-point focus on the situation of the worker. From my point of view, it is an attempt to draw a firm distinction between property owners and workers. In order to effectively view Marx's concept of alienation and how it affects a particular individual, one must understand the seriousness of the conditions in which workers often deal. To do so, we must analyze what Marx means by alienation.

According to Oxford's English Dictionary, alienation is defined as "estranged or to make hostile.” This is only the start of what “alienation” means to Karl Marx. Marx's philosophy, like much of existential thinking, represents a protest against man's alienation, his loss of himself and his transformation into a machine; it is a movement against the dehumanization and automatization of man inherent in the development of industrialism. Marx was a believer in an inevitable revolution between capitalists, and the workers employed in their industries. He believed that the actual cost of any product is simply the price of material and most importantly, the labor employed to create it. However, the owner of the industry does no labor in creating the product, but rather buys a laborer and sells the results of that man's work. This is the definition of the bourgeoisie versus proletariat situation. Marx therefore considered any profit made in the sale of the product to be stolen from the worker.