Today's essay has to do with the recent conversation that Linda and I had with a Gen Z young man. Karl Marx's ideas regarding management, labor and alienation and Sigmund Freud's concept of transference are pertinent.
Alienation refers to the psychological process in which humans become alien, at odds, in their thinking, feeling, and loving with other humans. Marx's concern was that under the conditions of capitalism,man became estranged from his own creative powers and the object of his work became alien to him . He became an anonymous, insignificant number .These objects eventually ruled over him and became powers independent of him. "Labor exists for the purpose of production and not the process of production for the labor."
For Marx, socialism was never about the equalization of income. It was essentially emancipation from alienation and not inequality of money. An increase in “wages" becomes a better remuneration of slaves and would not restore ,either the worker to the work or their human significance and worth . “ The division between labor and management interferes with the ability of man to connect with himself and develop his powers in order to be able to love and respect himself and the ability to love and respect others. In other words, alienation transformed man into a thing as well as making him a slave of things in our society of consumption
Marx was concerned with the liberation of man from the kind of non challenging work which destroyed his individuality, which transformed him into a thing and which made him into the slave of things. It was a mode of production that destroyed individuality and enslaved man in the process. And one consequence of this division was that the worker became poorer . And, the more the worker expended himself in work, the more powerful the world of objects that he had created becomes .This results in him becoming poorer in his inner life and the less he belongs to himself .In other words, the object of his production is alien and hostile to man by mindless ,boring repetition and his powerlessness and insignificance in the process.
In the handicraft world, the worker made use of the tools and now it's the other way around - it’s the machines that make use of him. In other words, at one time man was autonomous and created things with the use of tools but now it's the machine that becomes more omnipotent and significant .Man is now a cog, a thing , a non -enity in the production .
For Marx, socialism was a society in which the man experienced himself as the subject of his own powers and was able emancipate himself from the bondage of things and circumstances In order to more fully develop a sense and capacity for love of self and the love for others
Today in our capitalistic consumption technological society, the worker, although needed for production, is becoming less, and less valued. For example, an article in the June 14, 2026 edition of The New York Times was titled "Billionaires Billions Are Increasing Faster Than Ever." That article described how the richest families and stockholders are increasing their political influence; why the rapid rise in wealth and that the billionaires are accelerating their wealth at the same time that the workers are getting a smaller share of the profits. In other words, businesses have shifted the balance of power in the economy, allowing owners rather than workers to gobble up more financial rewards. The top 0.1% of Americans, a group of about 135,000 households own stocks, that total 13.7 trillion nearly double owned by the bottom 90% of Americans , a group of about 115 million households. And workers have less freedom, power because of the dominance, exploitation and unfair tax codes .
Essentially, man is becoming increasingly poor, even though there’s an increasing need for money and this need for money is a real need created by the modern capitalistic economy. In our society ,this only creates excess and as a result greed for the favored but exploitation, deprivation and alienation for the others. It’s the commodity, the possessions , the power in how man relates himself and his status. The cliche “The one with the most and biggest toys wins.”
Our society of consumption affects man's tendencies. For example, within a receptive character orientation,the person feels that the source of all good comes from the outside. He believes that the only way to get what he wants- something material , affection, love, knowledge,and/or pleasure is to receive it from an outside source. This results in seeking a magic helper ; being loyal and dependent on others for knowledge , support ,making decisions and taking responsibility. On the negative side, man can be penniless, submissive, insecure, lacking self confidence, unrealistic , gullible and wishful .
A brief story about our personable young man follows: 1.Homeschooling began around high school. 2. He lives at home with his adopted parents on farm-like property on 15 acres 3. He said that college was expensive and that recent college graduates can't find employment. Currently there is a $1.6 trillion outstanding debt from federal student loans from 42 million people. More than 5 million of these borrowers have not made a payment in the past 360 days, are in default and an additional 4 million are in what is called “late stage delinquency.” The New York Times, April 27, 2025. 3. He is learning to be a phlebotomist. 4. He has had one date in his life that occurred at a coffee shop. He said he's afraid of girls. 5. He has an iPhone 6. He has reading difficulties . 7. Everything is expensive except the foods that are not healthy .8. Both of his parents passed by the time he was 5 years of age.His older brother was also adopted shortly by the same parents. There are other adoptees in the home .9. He voted for Trump . On a 1-10 scale to measure being surprised by Trump’s not following through on campaign promises with 10 being the most surprised he said ,he’s a number 6. A lot of people are fed up with the Democrats and won’t vote .10. He attends a Christian church and believes in Jesus .11. He began weight lifting at age 13 because he was skinny.14. He doesn’t pay for room and board but is responsible for the total costs associated with his car.
According to an article in the New York Times June 22, 2025 "There is a Way to Bring Back Childhood," stated excessive smart phone usage by children and adolescents has been associated with mental health problems, suicide, depression, bullying behavior ,reduced dating, less marriage, fewer having children, and a plethora of problems associated with cognitive decline.
In a Gen Z survey ,many young people felt trapped by Tik Tok ,Snap Chat and other avenues in which nearly all the participants expressed regret about having access to many of the most popular social media platforms. Many of these parents gave their children smart phones and social media access too early; wished that social media had never been vetted and hoped for new external social norms, policies and restrictions.Too late mom, too late.
Our young man has been subjected to homeschooling ,living in a rural area and primarily relying on parents and siblings for his socialization along with his electronic devices. In other words, his world, his socialization ,outside family , and opportunities for interacting with others has been limited with reliance primarily on consuming technology.
Electronics has interfered with the meeting of ego needs and have replaced humans for comfort,security,acceptance, permissiveness and reduction of separation anxiety. His socialization has been disrupted ,his experiences have been limited in dealing with others, but instead has tended to rely upon technology with all its toxic lies and misinformation.
Essentially, the inorganic , became a transference on a “thing” that represents the human qualities of power,love, acceptance, knowledge,safety,connection and expertise -the emotional deficits he experienced early on . And, as a result these objects psychologically artificially “provide “ him with those qualities .However, this technology did not and does not endow him with human or realistic emotional experiences but instead , he relies on the consumption of technological and social media responses that are programed on the statistical averages of the algorithms along with preponderance of misinformation ,prejudice and deceit provided by AI.
Also ,other emotional deficits pertain to him as he is lacking in the capacity and readiness for intimacy. Currently, he is unable to commit to concrete affiliations , reciprocate, to please and receive affection ,to remain loyal and to follow through despite many differences. And, has been unable to face his female fears at this point, to engage in close affiliations, sexual unions and close friendships. The inability to meet the ego need of affiliation experiences leads him to isolation , self absorption and reliance on the inorganic for comfort in order to reduce his separation anxieties.. Unfortunately, in order to engage, he has to overcome those psychic difficulties with humans whose essence, at this time , seems dangerous and counter intuitive to his own survival.
Cognitively speaking, a relevant article titled "Thinking Is Becoming a Luxury Good" was found in the August 3, 2025 edition of the New York Times. The writer pointed out that smart phones are breeding a new kind of inequality that's bad for democracies. For instance, individuals are reading less and literacy scores have declined significantly. Nearly half of Americans read zero books in 2023.
Important brain activity, found in the analytic left hemisphere is related to capacity for concentration, linear reasoning, deep critical thinking and executive functions which are severely and negatively associated with this technology. Also, rich kids spend less time on their screens compared to the poor kids which also places them in a better position to enter the knowledge intensive industries that focus on thinking, reasoning, and are associated with higher pay. Another concern was that this cognitive dumbing down favors oligarchs that easily manipulate our citizens with their contradictory double talk , simplistic , irrational and populist brain rot messaging .Essentially “smart” phones and these Mega rich types are propagating an additional inequity that’s detrimental for cognitive and emotional development .
PS
Fromm, Erich. Marx's Concept of Man.
Thom Darden and I have been invited by the University of Michigan Alumni to host a webinar regarding Bo's Warriors. The event is scheduled for August 16, a Sunday, at 1 PM Pacific coast time. To register for the event
https://umalumni.my.site.com/s/lt-event?id=a1QUS00000C3rAX2AZ
