Karl Marx

“ Men begin to distinguish themselves from animals as soon as they begin to produce their means of subsistence”

I developed a theory surrounding alienation which describes a type of estrangement from an individual’s self and others as a repercussion of living in arranged social classes. This specifically applies to the bourgeois – the rich, upper class and the proletariat – the poor, lower class.

Within the capitalist society, the proletariat were faced with alienation from humanity since they had little to no money and the only thing available to sell was their labour, which entailed working for agonizing, long periods of time, only to expect very little payment in return.

This parallels the issue with child labour since millions of children are being forced to work and slave for others. The children going through this process are forced to work excruciatingly painful hours in order to earn small amounts of money to barely skim by in life. This is the exact same as the proletariat since they had no other choice than to work in order to survive. The only thing applicable to sell was their labour since they owned next to nothing, in order to support their families.

The quote above can be applied to both the proletariat and the children forced into labour, this is because when the children are forced to do work for endless hours everyday, they face multiple kinds of alienation including familial alienation since they were stripped away from their families. Alienation from education since the overwhelming workload made them unable to attend school, and the false consciousness since they are given the idea to believe that they will only ever work in bad environments for the rest of their life and that their children will be in the exact same situation.

This is very similar to the proletariat, although they were not stripped from their families, they must work constantly in order to provide for them which meant alienating themselves from their families and hardly seeing them. This is also similar to the education issue with the children since the proletariat – not only couldn’t afford education, but had very little time to attend since they were either working or sleeping.  As well as the lies they were fed from the government and the bourgeois, that stated that proceeding to do hard labour was going to be their life forever. Collectively, these factors lead to both the children and the proletariat feeling disconnected from themselves, others, and humanity, resulting in them feeling non-human, and more like an animal. Hence why the quote states that once an individual can produce their own means of subsistence, they can once again begin to feel human and less like a tortured animal.

Familial alienation

The horrifying truth behind child labour is that children of all ages are forced into isolation and separation from their parents, siblings, friends, and their entire family. They are stripped away and completely disconnected from loved ones for possibly their entire lives. They are forced to work constantly, disregarding the weather conditions, sicknesses, or feelings that that child may go through. In return, they have very little compensation for their restless working days, and receive very small payments in order to survive. Many of these children are malnourished since they cannot afford much, and since they are pulled away from their families, they essentially have no support. This plays a major role into feeling less human, since they are constantly surrounded by others being treated the exact same way, instead of their loving families. This can subsequently make the children more distant, angry, and reluctant, since they hardly receive love from their families – which can also spiral into major mental health issues. This is relevant in the proletariat as well. Men, women, and children, were faced with a proposition, sell their labour, or die of starvation. So although technically, they were not forced into labour by a higher power, they were mentally faced with a difficult ultimatum. This then lead to familial alienation, because they had to work for hours upon hours in order to collect their small profit and sustain their families. With constantly being at work, they were unable to see their families regularly, which once again- caused them to become more distant, angry, and depressed. Both the children and the proletariat were left feeling unloved which can cause much damage to one’s internal feelings.

Education

Both parties were unable to progress in the education system due to the unlawful circumstances they were born into. Both the proletariat and the children could not afford the expenses of education, since they could hardly afford their own food. This, making it harder for both of them to move up in the “social hierarchy” since the lack of education closed hundreds of doors for better opportunities. They were left alienated from the education system, since others who could afford to go to school and earn an education made it much farther and had a wider spread of opportunities. This, like familial alienation, can lead to several mental health issues, sprouted from strong emotions such as shame – that they cannot afford an education, anger- that others can afford it and they cannot, and sadness- since they will never achieve that goal that is so easily given to and taken for granted by individuals to this day. These children and the proletariat are very similar in the sense that they are both at the bottom of the social food chain. Both resemble the poor lifestyle, who is forced to sell labour for survival.

False consciousness

These children are told painful lies every day of their lives. That they will never go further than this – they will be stuck at the bottom for their entire lives. That they must obey because they can either sell their labour or die. They are constantly put down in order for them to stay in the same position. Mentally brainwashing the way they think so that escaping is not an option, leaving is not an option, quitting is not an option. Taking into consideration the lack of education and having no familial support, the brainwashing works. These children know nothing else besides working, slaving. The proletariat are much alike in this circumstance. Being fed lies from the government and bourgeoisie that they will never succeed or surpass the position they are currently in. Once again, all of these factors partake a section of the deteriorating mental health in both proletariat and the children in this situation.