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Essay / Karl Marx: Philosophy, Politics, and Class Conflict
Marcuse believes that free enterprise is good up to a point, but it begins to become harmful. He believes that the machines have become more efficient and that there is no longer a need for personnel (2). Society believes capitalist economic consumerism. We have to work harder to earn money and buy what society wants us to buy. We also have false needs that treat us like objects. False needs are things we think we need because of societal norms. It objectifies our critical capacities. In doing so, the company is easily controlled. There are also real needs, what you would want or do without societal pressures. By having these false needs, we also internalize society's values into our own, this is called internalization. We have to be one type of person, we classify ourselves as product people, "I'm team iPhone" or "I'm team Android", this takes away our individuality and we now pigeonhole ourselves into a product. Marcuse also believes that we alienate ourselves and others through our false consciousness (11). Furthermore, the scientific method was applied incorrectly in previous philosophy. There is more to life than scientific tools can measure, this is seen in political life, social life and in human existence. Our capitalist society is based on a scientific perspective. We don't always need to look through a scientific lens. According to Marcuse, society also dumbs down politics. We isolate ourselves into binaries, we are either this or that. And if we see something we don't like, we just associate it with the opposite side. Finally, Marcuse concludes by predicting that as capitalism expands, the elements that enable personal engagement and personal growth will be reduced to nothing. It will become dehumanizing. Society must do something to change this in order to preserve individuality.