The commodification of Alienation: the house always wins.

"Under the rule of a repressive whole, liberty can be made into a powerful instrument of domination."

Herbert Marcuse

Alienation is something that happens between individual and society; between citizen and government, between man and self. When I think of alienation, I think of otherness and how the other 

( immigrants and minorities) are demonised by the far right. It also brings to my mind ideas such as tedium vitae and ennui. Alienation has elements of tedious repetition for salary workers who are working to make ends meet and perform the same task day after day. It also has elements of boredom and dissatisfaction that are sure to accompany the false sense of self that consumerism creates. 

Alienation is originally a Marxist concept. Marx understood alienation as a malaise directly caused by capitalism and prominent  in capitalist societies. Marx argued that workers become alienated from the products of their labor, the labor process, their fellow workers, and ultimately from themselves. In a capitalist system, individuals often work in roles that do not reflect their true interests or passions, leading to a sense of disconnection from their work and a lack of fulfillment. And it's precisely disconnection what lies at the heart of alienation. This disconnection can be social, emotional, or existential. In a rapidly changing world, where technology and globalization play significant roles, many individuals find themselves feeling isolated despite being constantly connected through digital means. But I digress: alienation is definitely felt at grass roots levels. It is something extremely common. Sometimes it can be  transient, sometimes it lingers. But alienation is best articulated in the language of literature and philosophy.

In literature, alienation is a common theme that reflects the struggles of individuals to find their place in a complex and often indifferent world. Authors such as Franz Kafka and Albert Camus have explored the absurdity of existence and the feelings of disconnection that arise from it. Kafka's characters often grapple with feelings of isolation and helplessness in a society that's  so bureaucratic and impersonal, that it has become terrifying. 

Camus, as would be expected from a seminal figure in the existentialist movement, examines in his novels the search for meaning in a post-Christian world reeling from the horrors of WW2, a world that seems totally devoid of meaning and order.

Romanian philosopher Emil Cioran- not considered part of the existentialist movement- was far more direct since he articulated his angst through the essay genre. His philosophical proposal is bleak: the human condition is characterised by despair, futility and ultimately by death. 

The end of the war and its horrors and the discovery of what had really  happened in the Nazi concentration camps encouraged atheism, rebellion and a distrust for all forms of authority. In the USA, the Beats rebelled against the capitalist and bourgeoisie values of the period and purposely sought alienation in the golden era of the American Dream. In a way, European existentialists and American Beats paved the way for the counter culture. And with the counter culture, alienation became a fashion and was soon assimilated and commodified by capitalism. 

But it was Marcuse who predicted this in his 1964 book "One Dimensional Man". Herbert Marcuse's book critiques advanced industrial society and its capacity to suppress individuality and critical thought. He argues that modern capitalist societies create a "one-dimensional" way of thinking, where people are conditioned to accept the status quo and consumer culture without questioning it. This is even more prescient today, when people seem to be compelled to vote against their own interests and defend the very things that oppress them. Any criticism of capitalism will elicit vitriolic opposition from working class people and people who live on a salary. People who will defend the Monarchy, the class system and the alleged right of the wealthy to pay less taxes. 

But the fact is that alienation hasn't gone away. It has just been commodified, managed, medicated by big business interests. One Dimensional thought is always preferable and it is the natural docility fostered by the trappings of consumer society, vacuous TV shows and anti intellectualism. When this fails, there are anti depressants and plenty of fake, pretend alternative platforms where the alienated can cosplay his alienation. 

The house always wins.