Unprecedented Technological Advancements
Unprecedented technological advancements and achievements characterize this generation. The human race has been influenced by genetic engineering, space travel, and the internet. The advanced weapons that humans have produced, such nuclear bombs, have made these breakthroughs much more dangerous to human existence than they were in earlier eras. Global warming is a harmful byproduct of human labor that has never been seen before. Even if man is capable of producing enough food to feed the entire world in the current generation, some people still die from hunger as a result of poverty and diseases (Tucker, K., 2002). Our society is dominated by military conflict, economic recession and insecurity despite the fact that humans ability to control the nature to a great extent (Marx, K. & Engels, F., 2003). And it is so weird that the more we complain of overcrowded cities, the more people find themselves isolated and lonely. These contradictions were perceptible in the early ages according to Karl Marx.
The Life of Scientific and Industrial Forces
Marx postulates that during their error, everything looked as if pregnant with their contrary. They had machinery but were meant to make work easier and to conserve the human nature. He purports that the current generation has commenced the life of scientific and industrial forces which were never expected by the early generation. The present population is a subject of fast wealth creation with some indulging into weird practices of wealth creation driven by want (Marx, K. & Engels, F., 2003).
The Theory of Alienation
In the theory of alienation, Marx tries o reveal the activities of the human beings that are hidden by the impersonal forces that dominate the society we live in. he gives an illustration that despite the fact that this world looks independent and natural to us, it is accredited to the actions of the past human generation. Apart from proving that the present modern world is as a result of the past human action and that the future world free of contradictions of capitalism can be created by the current population (Marx, K. & Engels, F., 2003). The materialistic theory he developed showed that the society the human lived in shaped them but they can also act vice versa to change the world and hopefully for the better. The theory of alienation was for Marx’s predecessors Feuerbach and Hegel and was not for the brain or religion. He considered alienation to mean the loss of control over labor and this is explained in his ideas about the nature of human being.
Marx’s Theories on Capitalism
Karl Marx terms capital as the social economic relation existing between individual other than between individuals and things (Marx, K. & Engels, F., 2003). This is majorly a strategy employed by the business owners to abolish capital as foreseen by Marx; a historic stage that would slowly grow because of the internal contradictions and later followed by socialism. Capitalism enriches the capitalists at the expense of the workers who are exploited by the owners of the means of the production. In Marx’s view; the working class would eventually impoverish in relation to capital dynamics and therefore lead to the creation of a revolution due to the prevailing social conditions. It is ultimately considered as a source of limiting human freedom as a result of the dependence created by the non-owning class on the ruling class over the production and distribution means.
Criticisms of Capitalism
Various arguments have been offered by Marxists claiming that capitalism is nothing but a confusing system characterized crises that reoccur with a bid to increase the severity and is also viewed as a stage in the economic system evolution. Besides Marx’s criticism, capitalism has more than once been a subject of its criticism ranging from those individuals who entirely disagree with the principle of capitalism to those that only disagree to the outcomes of the capitalism and with other wishing to substitute it with a different method of production and organization.
Plight of Temp Workers
"Permanently Temporary" is a video footage showing the plight of the laborers in the temp industry. Temporary workers commonly referred to as temp workers in America face challenging conditions on how they are hired, their lives and what they can manage to eat, this is related to the low pay they are subjected to which is estimated to equalize what farm workers levied for more than five decades ago. The American consumers majorly rely on shopping online, imported products and doorstep delivery which has greatly lead to the development of many warehouses in which the temp laborers labor in. It is a footage that commences at the ports of Los Angeles and Newark and ends at the doorstep of the client waiting for a delivery not imagining what happens and who plays the major role to do the parking and the sorting of the commodities before they are dispatched(Vice News, 2014).
The Exploitation of Temp Workers
True to Marx’s argument, this is made possible by the capitalism where the capitalists exploit the workforce which is said to employ 2.8 million workers in America(Vice News, 2014). This industry has greatly grown more than the employment in the private sector as the economy struggles to recover from the Great recession. The social economic relation existing between individuals and things rather than with other individuals is clearly illustrated in the story where it is highlighted that these workers labor for years assembling and packing products for the largest companies in the world. In relation to the story, capitalism is truly a contradicting system characterized crises that reoccur with a bid to increase severity (Marx, K. & Engels, F., 2003).
Recommendations and Conclusion
We may blame temp labor to be due to lack of better paying job opportunities in America or the economic recovery from the Great Recession but one thing the capitalist should note is that humanity is a key. These workers toil for hours with very minimal pay at the end of the day, temp agencies should get these workers better pay (Nell, E. & O’Neil O. 2003). Better working conditions should be established to avoid injuries and deaths such as in the cases of Day Davis, 21 who was crushed by a machine, Samir Storey who died from hydrogen sulfide suffocation and Mark Jefferson who collapsed and died from heat stroke among others (Vice News, 2014). Better compensation schemes should be established for the sake of their wellbeing. Labor policies and regulations should be enforced to allow the temp workers realize the fruit of their sweat.
Marx’s Ideas for a Better World
The author wanted to make public the plight of the temp workers which he professionally managed to do, and the public is left to imagine what types of harassments an individual goes through to the time the product is delivered. Marx’s ideas and advice to the present population can help revise this trend. His view on capitalism is sober and people should embrace revolutionary socialism and if not possible, classic social democracy can be employed (Marx, K. & Engels, F., 2003).
References
Marx, K. & Engels, F. (2003). The socialist ideal. In J. Sterba (Ed.), Justice: Alternative Political Perspectives (4th ed., pp. 68-76). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.Nell, E. & O’Neil O. (2003). Justice under socialism. In J. Sterba (Ed.) Justice: Alternative political perspectives (4th ed., pp. 77-85). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.Tucker, K. (2002). Classical social theory. Oxford, UK: Basil Blackwell
Vice News, (2014) Permanently Temporary, The Truth About Temp Labor.
