Karl Marx: Money Alienate Essence
on Wednesday, December 14, 2022Meaning of Karl Marx Money Quote: saying money can be worshipped, even though it is alien to our core identity. Karl Marx said:
“Money is the alienated essence of man’s labor and life; and this alien essence dominates him as he worships it” — Karl Marx
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In this quote, Karl Marx is criticizing the dominance of money and capitalism over human life and labor. He argues that through the capitalist system, the essence or value of people’s work (“man’s labor and life”) becomes alienated or separated from themselves and takes the form of money.
Marx then says this alien essence (money) comes to dominate people, as they essentially worship and revolve their lives around the pursuit of accumulating more money.
So in summary, Marx is suggesting that under capitalism, money takes on outsized importance and power over society as people are compelled to prioritize the acquisition of wealth through their labor, leading them to be dominated by this “alienated essence” of their own work and existence that they create but does not truly belong to them.
Birthday: May 5, 1818 – Death: March 14, 1883