Zayed University

Karl Marx
Short Writing Assignment #1

Maha Khalid / 201009070 Dr. Suzanne Joseph / HSS 252 001

[2011/2012]

Maha Khalid 201009070

Short Writing Assignment #1 1,381 Words

HSS 252 - 001 Suzanne Joseph

Flint, Michigan is where the left-wing journalist Michael Moore documented his movie Roger and Me. Flint was also Moores hometown, and General Motors birthplace. Due to the breaking down of what was once a flourishing town, Michael Moore documents Roger and Me to reveal capitalists true colors by demonstrating how unsympathetic capitalists are towards the downtrodden workers. He also reveals how devastated most Flint workers life became. The breaking down of Flint was caused by General Motors since the company closed eleven of their factories. They predicted a more promising opportunity in Mexico which resulted them having to lay-off 3400 workers in Flint. Undoubtedly, the amount makes up half of Flints citizens. This incident shows how capitalism is a driving force in every society. Exactly what Karl Marx explained. Marx believed that the proletariat were always being exploited by the bourgeoisie. This led him to several conclusions and theories that can be applied to the Flint incident and the modern world.

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Maha Khalid 201009070

Short Writing Assignment #1 1,381 Words

HSS 252 - 001 Suzanne Joseph

Alienation is a feeling of not belonging. For Marx, alienation is the act of separation between creativity and humans. In other words, separation of the product from the workers. Workers put their labor into an object the upper class or capitalists own to become wealthier by selling it for profit. Charles Lemert stated so by saying "The worker becomes all the poorer the more wealth he produces, the more his production increases in power and range". (33) There are four kinds of alienation according to Karl Marx. Alienation from the object, the act of work, oneself and fellow human beings. These four kinds of alienation are interconnected. Alienation from the object occurs when the product refers to the worker who produces it. Basically, the object doesnt exist by itself rather as a result of the work activity. It also occurs when the worker produces his product under conditions over which the worker has no control because they do not own the means of production. The workers cannot decide the fate of the object that they produce because it doesnt belong to them in the first place. Clearly, there is a connection between Michael Moore's documentary and Karl Marx's concept of alienation from the product. In factories, Flint workers create cars for General Motors. The company then sells them to further increase profit. The object becomes alienated from the creator (Flint workers). Laborers have no control over the product, therefore, it becomes alienated from them. Employment became a motive for survival, workers are forced to work in order to fulfill their basic needs. Instead of working to maintain the creative human power, work at a job lost its whole meaning of creativity. Marx would call that an alienation from the act of work. Humans find their leisure time more enjoyable. Theyre comfortable whenever theyre free from work. The documentary proves so. As soon as General Motor shut down, half of Flint citizens moved out and the other half lived in the streets after being evicted for not having money to pay the rent. The act
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Maha Khalid 201009070

Short Writing Assignment #1 1,381 Words

HSS 252 - 001 Suzanne Joseph

of production became alienated from the workers, in other words, the workers are being separated from their jobs. This reveals how economy is such a driven force in societies. No doubt, with no jobs at General Motors, the Flint workers cannot survive, they cannot afford to satisfy their basic needs. Possessing freedom, creativity and self-conscious is a form of human existence. But when humans lose that, alienation from oneself take place. Human species have the power to produce for no particular reason, on the other hand, for animals, it is a necessity. That is what differentiate humans from animals, according to Marx Men can be distinguished from animals by consciousness, by religion or anything else you like. They themselves begin to distinguish themselves from animals as soon as they begin to produce their means of subsistence (The German Ideology 5). That doesnt matter anymore since capitalism limits human creativity. Alienating the worker from his product after the worker became enslaved to the object makes the workers alienated from themselves because they lose the sense of creativity and what distinguishes them from animals, freedom of production. Laborers are being told what to do and how to do it just like machines. Working for the sake of beauty is gone. A link can be seen between both documentary and Marxs theory. After General Motors closed down their factories, Flint had the highest violent crime rates in America. Obviously, this illustrates how far Flint workers would go in order to survive. They lost their human consciousness. The alienation from one another arises when workers are alienated from those who exploit their human labor. But more importantly, when the relationship between fellow humans become a matter of buying and selling, in other words, relationships are based upon money. Roger & Me puts it in action. The fundamental point of Michael Moore documenting the movie was to convince Roger Smith (General Motors Chairman) to escort him back to Flint so he could see the results of
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Maha Khalid 201009070

Short Writing Assignment #1 1,381 Words

HSS 252 - 001 Suzanne Joseph

his work. It was so difficult for Moore to even confront Roger. This shows a slight connection between the movie and Marxs theory because it clearly indicates how estranged humans became to one another. Unless you set up a meeting with the higher status, it is not possible to contact them. While defying Commodity Fetishism, Karl Marx uses the term mysterious which clearly shows that Marx is hinting at the mystical nature of a commodity and the invisible power it has over humans. The nature of a commodity does not arise from the fact that people produce them. As Charles Lemert said The mystical character of commodities does not originate, therefore, in their use value. Just as little does it proceed from the nature of the determining factors of value (60). Humans tend to forget the labor. They fail to see that commodities tend to hide the real labor and it also destroys the real social relations. The usefulness of an object creates a use-value. Being of use to others is one way to create a type of value known as exchange-value, in other words, during the trading process by exchanging with money, the value of the item no longer exists. Michael Moore does a great job illustrating Marxs concept. The first process which is, Flint workers would put their labor into manufacturing cars, this process is the use-value, when the product is actually valuable. After the first process, General Motors would sell these cars and earn money, this step turns the usefulness of the cars into worthlessness, which what Karl Marx would call a commodity. Karl Marx goes deeper by also using the term Fetishism. An object which is being obsessed and worshipped with power as a position is called a fetish. The society forgets the true value of a commodity, therefore, the aspect of humanity labor becomes fetishized. As indicated by Lemert the social character of labor appears to us to be an objective character of the products themselves (62). Rather than bonding with each other, humans bond with objects and money.
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Maha Khalid 201009070

Short Writing Assignment #1 1,381 Words

HSS 252 - 001 Suzanne Joseph

Capitalism holds the power of hiring human labor, buying tools and use them both to establish a productive process while profiting from it. Due to that, the true labor is being transferred into things. Roger & Me also clearly points out humans fetishism over money. General Motor is completely obsessed with cars and money and without giving any attention to Flint workers, they simply shut down their factories when the company was one of the top, in order to remain competitive, meanwhile, earn more money. This obviously provides a proof to how accurate Karl Marxs theory. Quantitative exploitation is practically a stage when the commoditys importance become so high, more than workers. At this stage the human labor is being sold and traded as a commodity by having the amount of money capitalists earn after the exchange of the commodity, larger than the amount capitalists spent for the production of the commodity. Workers would spend so much time manufacturing a product and in the end they dont get the wage they deserve for their labor and hard work. Comparing the documentary with Marxs theory, theres definitely a connection. The main reason General Motors shut down their factories was due to the fact that they want to spread exploitation in Mexico by building their 11 factories and paying Mexicans 70 cent an hour. Thats what Karl Marx would call Quantitative exploitation. Paying the Mexican workers barely enough when the company has large sums of money.

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Maha Khalid 201009070

Short Writing Assignment #1 1,381 Words

HSS 252 - 001 Suzanne Joseph

Works Cited

Social Theory: The Multicultural and Classic Readings. Ed. Charles C. Lemert. Boulder, CO: Westview, 1993. 33. Social Theory: The Multicultural and Classic Readings. Ed. Charles C. Lemert. Boulder, CO: Westview, 1993. 60. Social Theory: The Multicultural and Classic Readings. Ed. Charles C. Lemert. Boulder, CO: Westview, 1993. 62. "Idealism and Materialism." The German Ideology. 15 Mar. 2012 <http://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1845/german-ideology/ch01a.htm>.

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