What other questions do you have about Marx? This is me at his grave in December 2010.
Marx believed that we are essentially social creatures and essentially producing creatures. If we are isolated (alienated) we will suffer and if we can't produce we will suffer. What do you think about that? Is your identity defined by your work? How much does class contribute to identify?
I would agree with Marx because humans are social beings. With this being said, we are meant to build relationships and reproduce. If we are isolated from others I don't think it would kill us, but we as humans would definitely suffer in different ways. We need to interact with other human beings.
ReplyDeleteI don't believe that your job/work functions as your sole identity. I think your job/work can reveal things about your personality and that it is a part of who you are, but it shouldn't define your identity. I believe that some of your identity can come out through your work depending on how passionate you are with your work and if you allow it to show.
As far as class goes, I would say it also depends on how well you are with your emotions and certain topics. If you let things affect you or not, because everyone is different. Sometimes we can portray certain things in our writing that would give away our identity or things about us.
I agree with Marx as well. The social aspect of humans is what makes us human. Our abilities to problem solve, to produce what we need to support ourselves, whether that product is labor, a good, or a talent, in combination with our sociality, allow us to survive.
ReplyDeleteI also agree with Chealsea that our work doesn't necessarily act as our sole identity. Think of a slave back in Egypt for example. Their work was to produce, to be controlled, etc. While this may say something about these people (subordinate nature, lack of power, etc.), their job as 'slave' doesn't describe all the social relationships that the person may have been a part. Work reveals only so much about a person's multi-faceted nature.
Class is sort of in the same category as work: it reveals only a part of a person's identity. Since class is a more social aspect that encompasses many people, it may have more influence on how the person views self and how the person is viewed by others, their belief system, etc.. In the old days, class meant everything, from whom you could associate and whom was forbidden. I like to think this has changed, but it still plays a major role in identity, just not all of it.
I agree with Marx. I have learned in one of my classes that one of the stages of development is the fact that you will pass along your genes. It empowers a sense of accomplishment and the thought of immortality. Also, human beings are social creatures. Facebook is a prime example of that. We are constantly looking for approval or interaction with other human beings.
ReplyDeleteClass structure is something that drives human beings sometimes. In the case of a business world, everyone strives to get to the top and to have a wealthy lifestyle. In the case of everyday living, people associate with those who are similar to them. It allows them to connect and be on even ground. People of the same class have the same background, beliefs, and outlooks on life.
I believe that people can be defined by their work. They are still in the same class most of the time, develop friendships with colleges and eventually become their own cliché in society. When you meet a person and he is a doctor, you automatically associate them with a particular standard. Same thing can be said about anybody. Depending on what type of job you are in can determine how people see you and sometimes even how you see yourself.
I would say that I am absolutely defined by my work. It is what I will leave behind it is my legacy. If I could not work or learn or be productive than my life would be pointless. My motivation to live is to contribute to the world which would mean that I am at my core a social being. By working and contributing I not only have purpose in my life but also have a social understanding of my impact. The social class I live in defines me in the way that I can impact it. As a middle class citizen I have a lot of space to move and change and effect the world. I believe social class liberates the persons ability to impact their society.
ReplyDeleteMarx may be correct in stating that we are all inherently social creatures, but I would argue against his point that we are defined by our work. I think we are more defined by our interactions between others and not necessarily the work we accomplish throughout our life. Don't get me wrong, work is an important part of everyone's life, but I believe that in touching another person's life we our provided with an ultimate purpose. Any one good interaction could provide a snowball effect and ultimately affect many more people. This way you leave a mark on others hearts that will be with them long after you have passed on. You may not even directly know the person who feels your influence, but that influence becomes part of your legacy.
ReplyDeleteOh I also forgot to mention class... I think that class defines you to the masses, but not to your fellow class members. While the other classes will have an influence on your identity, class is meaningless in developing relationships with fellow members of the same caste since they are equal to you and are not bogged down with biases pertaining to their own class.
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ReplyDeleteI believe your identity is defined by how you work, not your work alone or even the social class you are in. A great example of this is the movie The Pursuit of Happiness with Will Smith. He is extremely poor but works harder than anyone else. When people watch that movie there is no way you can look at him and define him by his class and his work. First off he has no work, and second he does not dress as if he is dirt poor. The way he presents himself through his hard is how I personally define him, as well as all the people I come across.
ReplyDeleteThis happens the other way around as well. Some are born into riches and have no idea how to work for anything. I cannot look at them and define them by how much money they have or their class. I look at them as lazy and a weakness to society. The reason I say this is because there are plenty of people out there that would work from sun up to sun down for fraction of what that rich person inherited.
As far as class goes, I stick by what I stated earlier. There are some people in the lower class that have nothing but get up and work extremely hard. With that being said there are others in the lower class that do not work at all and collect welfare. This is exactly the reason I believe that it is how you work, not your work alone that defines a person. The same goes for anyone in any class.
I agree with this pretty spot on. I always view someone by how they work and accomplish things. I will think higher of someone who has worked their tail off only to achieve less, than for someone who inherits things in life and doesn't work at all. Also, just because of your class it doesn't always define you. There are plenty of people out there that are high class people that worked to get there and maintain that. So I don't intend to be judgemental by any means. Back to the point though, I do think it is HOW you work, not necessarily what you work on or do or any of that. How someone works will tell me a lot about their values, which will then allow me to give them an identity.
DeleteI think that he is completely correct when he talks about humas being social creatures. We need to be social because it helps us develop our thoughts and ideas just like this class does with our debates. It challenges our beliefs and forces us to give good reason for believing what we do.
ReplyDeletefrom Brandon
ReplyDeleteI shed a few tears of joy when I first watched The Pursuit of Happiness. Thats a good example to use in showing how man is willing to work to achieve his goal even though he ( Will Smith ) is not very fortunate and has to take the bus to his job and to get his son. the work he puts in from sunrise to sunset shows that he is a hard worker in which shapes his identity.
There are some people that are in the lower class also that would rather sit around and collect money from the government and are content with that. The harder you work the more successful a person can become no matter what obstacles arise. Who you are and what you got doesn't define you unless you put a lot of elbow grease into your work.