MJ Suicide Part 2

Sociologist Emile Durkheim wrote about contributing factors to an individual’s suicide in his 1897 work titled, Suicide and Modernity. Durkheim speaks of both internal and external causes that can lead suicidal tendencies. Suicide can result if one’s unique needs are not being met in society (Durkheim 1897:75). If these needs are not fulfilled an individual feels alone in this world because he/she is disconnected. Notable sociologists Max Weber and Karl Marx speak of this same disconnection in a different manner. In Weber’s work titled, The Spirit of Capitalism and the Iron Cage, he speaks of the physical iron cage that capitalism has created around every individual. This capitalist ethic causes individuals to work very hard without experiencing bliss, “the earning of more and more money combined with the strict avoidance of all spontaneous enjoyment in life, is above all completely devoid of any eudomonistic, not to say hedonistic, admixture” (Weber 1905:102). Weber goes on to describe Protestant asceticism and fundamental components in capitalism, however he never speaks of where this disconnection may lead an individual. Also, Weber does not divulge where emotions may lead an individual; for example, if someone is in deep pain they may choose to numb themselves with drugs.

In Karl Marx’s work Estranged Labour he depicts the possibilities of great alienation. Marx describes how this estrangement can occur through labor practices, yet he does not explain the latter effects of this separation. In this work the relations between property owners and workers is portrayed as a greedy one that produces competition. Although Michael Jackson was a wealthy “property owner,” he was still giving his labor to large conglomerates for profit. The loss of reality is also addressed in this piece, “ what is animal becomes human and what is human becomes animal” (Marx 1844:33). The human worker no longer feels comfortable in his own skin due to this alienation produced by labor, according to Marx, however no consequences are addressed for this notion.

What's Strange

Estranged Labour by Karl Marx

Estranged Labour by Karl Marx intricately describes how the human becomes disconnected from his or her own labor. He describes the overall labor market, and consequences before and after production, as the political economy. This political economy “does not disclose the source of the division between labor and capital, and between capital and land.” Marx describes a climate where those apart of this political economy must search deep to find the answers to questions about the relationship between the worker and his or her labor.

Marx concludes that the worker in this political economy is forced into labor, instead of volunteering. When the worker is forced to work and perform a job he/she dislikes or despises, the worker begins to feel out of their element. Marx states that the only time the worker feels human or free is when he/she is performing routine animal functions. Due to this lack of freedom and autonomy, Marx states, “what is animal becomes human and what is human becomes animal.”

This statement is fully loaded; is Marx saying that we are loosing our humanity? What is animal-like can be described as a human’s basic functions like eating, drinking, procreating, etc., while human functions can be defined as emotional, critical and creative actions. So, if the workers in the political economy humanize their animal traits and de-humanize their human traits, what will be the immediate and long-term effects? In this political economy workers and employers alike transform into a sort-of different species. They no longer use reasoning and emotional capabilities to make decisions (i.e., Maydoff, Enron, Bush, etc.). The majority in this reverse society glorifies the animal actions in life; much pleasure can be found in dining, drinking, bathing, etc. The true creativity and purpose of each human being is methodically suppressed. Marx sees the consequence of this transformation clearly: the human becomes estranged from his/her own humanity, which brings a dark cloud and depression over humanity. “Man’s species being, both nature and his spiritual species property into a being alien to him,” stated Marx. When the majority becomes alien-like, humans become disconnected from one another.

The World

"The philosophers have only interpreted the world, in various ways. The point, however, is to change it."

--Karl Marx