Global Intifada

One of the concepts of Marxism that intrigued me the most as a college student was his notion of “alienation.” What attracted me the most to this concept was not necessarily a theoretical appraisal, but rather, it was my own experiences as a worker in various jobs ranging from fast food to legal work. I think the best definition of alienation as understood by Marx comes from Fritz Pappenheim who wrote in “Alienation in American Society” that:

“There are three types of alienation. First, there is man’s alienation from himself. Modern man often finds it hard to be himself; he has become a stranger to himself. At the same time, he has become estranged, or alienated, from his fellow man. And finally, he experiences alienation from the world in which he lives.

These three forms of alienation—from ourselves, from other men, and from our world—are interlinked. They actually represent three phases of one process. Marx particularly emphasized the connections between them. This is the very core of his approach to the problem of alienation.”

Pappenheim goes on to describe how the alienation produced by capitalism creates a psychological state of severe isolation and depression:

“Our society is in such a crisis today. This may be the reason why the word “alienation” has come so much into vogue. We have not enough time here to study the various manifestations of the crisis: the emptiness and meaninglessness of modern life, the terrible loneliness of the individual, his isolation and drifting, and so on.”

However, the question arises: if capitalism is so self destructive to the human ego (khudi) then why is there so little resistance to it? In other words, if this economic system is so unnatural that it creates conflicts within our psychological, spiritual, and ecological constructs, then why don’t the masses develop a consciousness of that system and oppose it? The answer is that capitalism creates the “cure” for the very “sickness” which is consumerism. Labor, by its very definition, will always increase in types and degrees of specialization as economies develop into more and more advanced stages. Whereas before a labor would build, say, a car, he might move to producing only a wheel. Later on, perhaps only a screw. If one looks at the most advanced fields in any discipline whether it is science, law, medicine, engineering, the general trend is one of increasing specialization. Each profession may develop grand notions to justify such trivial pursuits, such as “eliminating death” or providing “due process” or “improving the human species through technology” but the truth is that each laborer focuses on minutae that are ultimately irrelevant in an existential sense. Thus, labor in evolving capitalist societies will create more intense feelings of isolation, loneliness, and depression as the laborer experiences separation from not only himself, but separation with other human beings and finally, the world itself.

As was stated above, capitalism creates the problem (alienation) but also provides a cure in the form of consumerism. I recently read an article on ABC News that was entitled “Does Sadness Mean Spending? We May Be Willing to Spend More When We’re Feeling Down, New Research Suggests“  which seems to vindicate Marx’s theory of alienation:

It’s a practice so common it has come to be called retail therapy. And in a recent study, researchers uncovered evidence of what shopaholics have known for years — that people may be willing to spend more on themselves when they’re feeling sad.

…

“People who are sad, miserable or depressed usually feel an emptiness inside,” Lieberman says. “So they engage in behaviors that fill up this emptiness, such as eating too much, drinking too much or spending too much.”

The increased buying only occurs for sad people who are self-focused, Kaslow said. “In addition, it is the first project to that actually looks at what sad people might do financially to secure a commodity — that is, what buying decisions would they make. This is very relevant to the real world, where people have a bad day or time in their life, feel sad, and shop to feel better.”

Consumer spending is one of the driving forces of the US economy and accounts for over 70% of the nation’s GDP, most of which is driven by debt (CNN 2003). The system seems self-contained. Capitalism creates the psychological conditions that form the basis for consumer spending, which drives the economy which reinforces expansive military projects overseas and reinforces the wealth which goes back to the consumer in a variety ways producing a closed system. However, there is only so much the human body and planet can take. It is inevitable that the Malthusian dilemma will begin breaking down various markets, the most pertinent of which is oil. However, it will undoubtedly spread to the vitals such as land, water, clothing and create crises on the planet that the human species has never witnessed before — not in the sense that we have not faced famines, droughts, and ecological disasters, but in the sense that irresponsible humans driven by their basic urges will now have the technological power to destroy the Earth and everything within it on a level unimaginable to previous generations. For now, the psychological side-effects of capitalism have resulted in consumerism - excessive eating, excessive shopping, pleasure-pursuing, etc. Now it is shifted into the realm of psychology and medicine with pills being prescribed when their long term side effects have not been fully studied. Spiritually devoid, cult like figures and quasi-religions with no moral substance have filled in the gap as well. The underlying point being is that the very rational discourse promoted by the enlightenment era thought that Europe boasted about and forcibly imposed upon the world is beginning to crack under its own weight as its flaws have become seriously exposed. The world is no more economically stable today than it was 400 years ago. Democratic states have transformed into corporatist states; nationalism is a force of exclusion rather than inclusion, exposing a severe contradiction in the doctrine of pluralism, a necessary element for any healthy democracy. Utilitarianism has transformed into the police state that is constantly on national security alert and will engage in torture and the violation of so many human rights that were once purported to be universal but are now waived since the enemy is portrayed as the racial or religious other whose sole purpose in life is to be obliterated so that our way of life may survive.

The world is descending into madness and the only way out seems to be either eating out at a McDonalds, engaging in orgies with random strangers, going on shopping sprees for material objects that serve no useful purpose, or joining the military in order to kill other human beings, etc. All of these things are by-products of the alienation produced by capitalism. Further evidence that the system is unsustainable and in conflict with the fitrah of humanity which is to live in peace and appreciate one’s rizq and develop harmony in one’s commercial transactions as well as with other human beings and with nature.

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