Karl Marx: Bureaucracy And Alienated Labor

Understanding Marx Karl Marx was an individual that has been known to be a philosopher that associated his thoughts with the world itself. According to Coser (1977) for Karl Marx, the history of mankind had a double aspect. He stated that Karl Marx famously believed that many people who performed work involving labor were not happy individuals, and could never truly develop their real personalities due to the time they spent around consistent work environments. Therefore, it can be said that Karl Marx believed that work was simply labor, and something that did not truly benefit society even though many people during his time and present times feel that it did. The term “alienation” was a huge part of Karl Marx’s vocabulary. According to Wharton (2014) there has certainly been inequality in the workplace, unhappiness in the workplace and cohesion factors that simply have not been strong enough for many organizations throughout the world. She stated that Bureaucracy and Alienated Labor were both terms that related heavily to the works of philosophy associated with Karl Marx. Frederick Winslow Taylor, Harry
Braverman and many others have also been noted by Amy Wharton to be influential figures on the workforces that exist throughout the world. There are certainly personal experiences that I have witnessed through friends that have correlated with the philosophies of “alienation” spoken by Karl Marx. Karl Marx is one that did not like capitalism, and he believed that instead that human beings should shape societies throughout the world in a positive fashion where labor isn’t “alienated” (Cox, 1998). According to Kozaryn (n.d.) studies have shown in foreign nations that many people throughout the world in Europe especially work much less than Americans but still say that they are living happily. She stated that research has proven that in life, people should not have to work to live, but should instead live to work as Karl Marx believed. Karl Marx did not believe in labor correlated with alienation that only made individuals feel as inferior people to those who made large amounts of profits while sustaining profitability from capitalism (Coser, 1977). It can be said from my personal life experiences that many people do indeed feel that they are working to live and get by. For example, I know a good friend of mine who is a retail manager at a store titled “Dollar Tree”. The friend of mine who is a manager at “Dollar Tree” works very long hours, and works about 55-65 hours per week. However, her salary is only around 37,000 per year, which is considered to be in the lower middle class bracket of the United States of America. I believe personally that if she was paid more for the hard labor that she performs, that she would simply be a much happier person overall in life than she generally is. I have seen her suffer from depression because she barely gets to see her husband and kids. My friend certainly can be considered to be somebody that is alienated by the type of labor that she performs on a consistent daily basis. Karl Marx was obviously a very gifted man, to be studied philosophically by some many people even though his words were created many years ago. According to Cox (1998) Karl Marx did not agree with people being rich from bloodlines while other workers who worked very hard day in and day out were treated in historical times as peasants. However, commonly it is known that many people want the minimum wage to be increased throughout the United States of America. Stagnant wages and inflation have been known to be said by mainstream news outlets to have severely hurt the United States of America especially since the Great Recession. The United States of America has not seen 3 percent growth in the GDP since the great recession first hit the United States and the world in 2008. Banks were bailed out during the great recession, but the common working American was not. Therefore, there seems to be a strong correlation with the works of Karl Marx being brought up recently that associate with how life has took a negative turn for many Americans. According to Cox (1998) many workers were very proud of their work during the 18th century, but Karl Marx did not believe that they were being properly compensated. The same can be said for many Americans in the workforce today. Throughout the daily news, it can be read how many Americans are protesting at rallies to hopefully see minimum wage increases. Minimum wage increases have benefited cities such as Seattle, Washington and retail outlets like Costco. Cascio (2006) stated that workers surveyed at Costco who are paid an average of seventeen dollars per hour felt much happier about their lives and their jobs than workers at Wal-Mart did who get paid much less than Costco workers. He stated that because of this, many people are starting to protest in an attempt to raise wages throughout America so that people can survive in America and not feel as Karl Marx called “peasants”. Capitalists according to Karl Marx are those that use greed such as many corporations presently does to their advantage in a manner that prevents their workers who create their profitability from living lives filled with happiness and joy instead of struggle. In conclusion, Karl Marx’s words have been talked about since the 18th century and research shows that they are still talked about today.
The concepts of worker alienation has spread throughout the United States of America and the world, as individuals try to find ways to promote livable wages that correlates with happier lives for many. Individuals do not want to feel as peasants, and sadly it is said that many workers are unhappy about how they are paid (Cascio, 2006). Bernie Sanders is a recent presidential candidate that has promoted the elimination of corruption in politics and has attempted to integrate many of Karl Marx’s ideas into common mainstream politics. Karl Marx may have spoken long ago, but it seems lately that his philosophies recently resonate throughout the United States and the world more than ever due to many people’s living
conditions.