Workers in capitalism, alienation of workers in capitalism, James W. Rinehart

Essay by ray83911University, Bachelor'sB+, October 2008

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According to James W. Rinehart in The tyranny of Work: Alienation and the Labour Process, work is a primary activity for human beings that differentiates human from other forms of life and today adults spend at least one-third of their waking hours on the job, which has great impact on personality of those who perform it (Rinehart 171). Quoting from Russell, there are two kinds of work according to professor Conlin. First type of work is the one where you alter the position of matter, which is unpleasant, ill-paid and dangerous. Second type of work involved you telling others to move matter, which is pleasant, well paid and safe. Although I never had a privilege to perform the second type of work, I had a chance to experience the first type of work at Mac Donald's. As Russell said, first type of work, which I experienced was definitely unpleasant, ill-paid and dangerous.

I worked under unpleasant working condition with no benefits, constantly forced work more than five days a week, including the weekends. My job at Mac Donald involved basically everything, from cashier to cooking to cleaning. At first, I felt sense of pride because I was able to perform many different tasks at any given situation. However it turned out that I was spending too much time at work. Since I was able to perform many jobs, management constantly forced me to work more days with less or no break and even on holidays. I was making government regulated minimum wage of some where between six to seven dollars per hour. When I got home from work, I would be so tired that I was not able to do anything but to recover for the next day of work. Also I started to fall behind in school and I...