The Tyranny Of Work: Alienation And The Labour Process

According to James W. Rinehart in The tyranny of Work: Alienation and the Labour Process, work is a primary activity for human beings that differentiates human from other forms of life and today adults spend at least one-third of their waking hours on the job, which has great impact on personality of those who perform it (Rinehart 171). Quoting from Russell, there are two kinds of work according to professor Conlin. First type of work is the one where you alter the position of matter, which is unpleasant, ill-paid and dangerous. Second type of work involved you telling others to move matter, which is pleasant, well paid and safe. Although I never had a privilege to perform the second type of work, I had a chance to experience the first type
I had never talk to the owner and for owner I was another high school kid who could be replaced at any moment because hundred other guys like me who wants work just as hard as I did. This alienation in workplace created a class system within one little Mac Donald. The source of alienation was social structure rather than in individual personalities; its causes are social rather than psychological (Rinehart
I did not need high school diploma or university degree to work as a cashier and cooker at Mac Donald 's. Also since I was replaceable at any moment and considered not as a person but as a employee number and a kid who sells his labour for minimum wage, the owner and the management treated me as they wish. This is how alienation is manifested, even in such a small local Mac Donald 's, and this is where the true nature of capitalism prevailed. For the working class and the lower class capitalism is always a downhill, as time goes on your moving closer to the bottom of the society. It is definitely a perfect example of the rich getting richer and the poor getting poorer. I have to strongly agree with Rinehart in respect to capitalism and alienation of labour because through my job experience I was able to witness everything Rinehart had expressed. Rinehart points out three sources of alienation; concentration of the means of production in the hands of a small but dominant class, markets in land, labour and commodities and an elaborate division of labour. It is obvious to see that I experience at Mac Donald 's clearly show all three sources of alienation. I did not have the sophisticated machines to produce tasty burgers and fries. I did not own a building to sell my burgers even if I was capable of making better burgers than Mac Donald 's.