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By Root 871 0

himself by practical activity, inasmuch as he has the impulse, in the medium which is directly given to him, and externally presented before him, to produce himself, and therein at the same time to recognize himself.”4 Through the productive act in general, the individual expresses herself in the material world. One’s essence as productive is seen in the world of art perhaps more clearly than in the world of work, but both activities are productive, and thus both are, ultimately, expressions of oneself. Our labor expresses who we are, and through our products others recognize us. Marx states: “Suppose, we had produced in a human manner. Then each of us would have in his production doubly affirmed himself and the other. . . . Our products would be like so many mirrors, from which our essence shown.”5 If we all produced in a way that was expressive of our individuality, then our products would reflect who we are. Think about Dr. Seuss himself. In his artistic expression through his books you get a sense of who he was as an individual. His works are expressive of the man, Theodore Geisel. But for how many of us is this really the case? Not of Pontoffel Pock to be sure. How can one see oneself in or feel fulfilled if his life is devoted to filling pickle jars? And we don’t have time to begin to get into the demeaning, degrading, and objectifying job of Pontoffel Pock’s girlfriend Neepha Pheepha, the eyeball dancer for the king.

So Marx’s ethical critique of capital is grounded in his belief that one’s essence ought to equal one’s existence; that is, how one lives her life should be consistent with her essence as a free, productive being. Her labor, her productive activity, should be a free expression of her own consciously chosen life. Consider his example of the river fish from The German Ideology. “The ‘essence’ of the river fish is the water of the river. But this ceases to be its ‘essence’ and becomes a medium of existence no longer suitable for the fish, as soon as it is polluted with dyes and other wastes. . . .”6 The water is the essence of the fish, and when it becomes glumped up with Gluppity-Glupp and Schloppity-Schlopp it ceases to be the fish’s essence and becomes simply a medium of existence, one detrimental to the fish. Humming fish can’t hum with their gills all gummed, and so people can’t freely and consciously produce—that is, express their essence—if their work is coerced, chosen for them, and unhealthy. In a polluted river or pond there is a disparity between what the fish is and what the fish ought to be—between a fish being and a fish flourishing. Under capitalist production there is a disparity between the human being’s essence, free-conscious activity, and her existence as a wage laborer. One’s essential life activity becomes simply a means for life, a way of earning money so one can buy the necessities and maybe a few toys, not an expression of one’s individuality. Since capitalism does not allow for the free-conscious activity of the majority of human beings, it is a perversion of life, an unhealthy social structure. The result of living in such a “polluted” social environment is alienation, a constant state of dissatisfaction and discomfort, and the development of various coping mechanisms that attempt to make alienated life bearable.

He’ll Be Simply Delighted?

Workers who don’t control their work environment, who have no control over what they do day in and day out, tend to develop a kind of psychology wherein they dissociate themselves from their job; that is, they become alienated. In the Economic and Philosophical Manuscripts of 1844, Marx provides his most detailed account of alienation. But we only need a general overview.

When a worker sells his labor time, he alienates himself from his labor; it’s no longer his. His labor becomes foreign to him, something he does, but not what he is. Therefore, he no longer finds himself in the activity he performs, the activity that will occupy the majority of his life. When Pontoffel Pock sells his labor to Gil Gicklers at the dill pickle works, he dissociates