Bumble

Peter Kelich

LCS Writing Assignment #1 “Work”

Karl Marx’s discussion in the work, Economic and Philosophic Manuscripts of 1844, is a strong discussion solely based on the worker and the ever changing economy that builds around the worker. It is clear that Marx bases every historical event around the shape of the economy during that time period. Marx explains how the way a society produces its needs or means to survive determines that society’s lifestyle or status. One of Marx’s most powerful quotes is, “To hire out one’s labor is to begin one’s enslavement.”(Marx 47) This quote is strongly stating that once an individual becomes reliant upon work, that individual is transformed into property, losing his freedom.

One of Marx’s main arguments is how the worker of the mid-1800s was characterized as a machine on a mass assembly line. The repetitive work they were forced to complete in order to survive was dehumanizing; screwing the same bolt into a scrap of metal for hours, days, months, or years on end. One cannot imagine the mental strength and endurance the worker of that time had to have achieved in order to put bread on the table. Ultimately, workers of this period in time were treated as slaves. The definition of a slave is simply a person who is completely under the domination of an influence or person. Marx stated, “The political economist tells us that everything is bought with labor and that capital is nothing but accumulated labor; but at the same time he tells us that the worker, far from being able to buy everything, must sell himself and his human identity.” (Marx 25) This quote explicitly explained how the only means of survival was to work endless hours, which never guaranteed any opportunities for security. It also stated that in order to have a fighting chance in the world of poverty at that point in time, one was required to give his whole being to the “boss.” When a worker entered their factory for another days work, they...