Workers are alienated from their labor from "summary" of The Communist Manifesto and Other Writings by Karl Marx,Friedrich Engels
The worker becomes an alienated being the moment he starts laboring. As he toils, he does not belong to himself anymore. His labor does not serve his own needs, but those of someone else. The products of his labor do not belong to him, but to the capitalist who owns the means of production. The worker is merely a means to an end, a mere cog in the machinery of capitalism. He is estranged from the fruits of his labor - they are not his, but are taken away from him and sold for profit by the capitalist. This alienation goes beyond just the products of labor. It extends to the act of labor itself. The worker is alienated from the very process of laboring. He does not work to fulfill his own desires or creative impulses, but to earn a wage. His labor is forced upon him by economic necessity, not chosen freely. He is not in control of his own labor, but is subjected to the will of the capitalist who dictates the conditions of work. Furthermore, the worker is alienated from his own human nature. Instead of developing and expressing his human potential through labor, he is reduced to a mere commodity, a replaceable part in the capitalist system. His labor becomes a mere means of survival, a way to earn a living, rather than a source of fulfillment and self-expression. The worker is dehumanized, reduced to a mere instrument of production in the eyes of the capitalist. This alienation has profound consequences for the worker's life. It leads to a sense of powerlessness and helplessness, as he is at the mercy of the capitalist class. It creates a feeling of isolation and estrangement, as the worker is disconnected from his labor, his products, and even his own self. It breeds resentment and discontent, as the worker realizes the injustice of his condition and the exploitation he faces.- The concept of workers being alienated from their labor is a central idea in the writings of Marx and Engels. It reveals the dehumanizing effects of capitalism on the working class, and highlights the need for social change to overcome this alienation and create a more just and equitable society.
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