The worker is to be alienated from their labor. This is one of the main warnings Karl Marx gives when talking about the dangers of capitalism. As we get ready for the onslaught of deals, gifts, and holiday culture, it's important to understand the underlying factors that have created this spectacle and the horrors that go into it. Namely, I want to talk about capitalism. After all, red is a big color this time of year.
When we think of capitalism it's always a romanticized, exaggerated form that keeps us from looking at the real evils many face on a daily basis. With the increased demand around November and December, there needs to be an increased supply (I took High School economics, I know what's up). However, what we see in the United States and most other western countries, labor is outsourced to China, India, and other "third-world" countries where worker rights are a myth and everything is justified under the banner of the bottom-dollar. You might think this is no big deal (if you're still wondering what those "morals" are people are talking about). However, when companies are in search of being more efficient and productive, that's a code-word for more oppression, unsafe work conditions, and sweat-shop spectacles that'll make you never look at a stocking the same way.
These sweat-shops don't take a break during Christmas, rather, it's usually a time most workers fear due to being worked nearly to death or being exposed to unsafe work conditions that will cause respiratory problems later on in life. After seeing some of these images it's made me look at Christmas from a completely different lens and, honestly makes me incredibly uncomfortable whenever I see a trinket or decoration because somewhere, someone is slowly dying making these goods.
But you may be asking, how does capitalism work in all of this? It's simple, we see demands that need to be met and at a rate that the US alone cannot meet. This means that corporations have expanded over-seas and have opened up sweat-shops to meet the excessive needs most Americans desire. One word used to describe this is Neo-Liberalism where private markets continually expand and abuse native labor for gains that country will not see.
What comes next is the solution. Stop buying Christmas goods? Burn the big fat man at the stake? I mean, those all sound fine to me, but one of the best ways to combat this kind of oppression is to learn about it, and to educate others about the horrors of Capitalism, because they're real and exist all around us.
