The thought of Karl Marx is vast and has had a massive influence on philosophy and sociology. Marx is best known for his two ruthless critiques of capitalism. The first of these critiques argues that capitalism is essentially alienating. The second of these critiques maintains that capitalism is essentially exploitative. Marx distinguishes three specific ways of alienating capitalism. The first is that workers are alienated from other human beings, the second is that workers are alienated from the products of their labor, and the last way Marx argues is that workers are alienated from the act of labor. Although Marx's ideas may seem to represent only the working class or proletariat, they can be used to represent me as a student at a very ostentatious high school. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get the original essay The first subpoint of Marx's first critique is that workers are alienated by other human beings. Marx writes: “If the product of labor does not belong to the worker, if it presents itself to him as a foreign power, this can only be because it belongs to a man other than the worker. If the activity of the worker is a torment for him, for another it can be a delight and a joy of life. It is not the gods, nor nature, but only man himself who can exercise this foreign power over man. » In simplified terms, since workers compete for jobs, this allows the capitalist, business owner, to lower wages. This trend has created a society in which our humans cannot compete as species beings but rather as a source of competition, thus resulting in a society in which humans are alienated from other human beings. As Marx talks about the working class in a capitalist society, this could be used as a metaphor in this essay to represent my life in high school, where I am a driving force for competition among other students. In high school, students are forced to compete with each other to get the highest 3-digit number in order to run to another school to get another 3-digit number that is used to define you for the rest of your life. Specifically, in American Heritage, this theory was proven true. My peers have categorized me with a number as "stupid", "stupid" even though I put in an equal amount of work, if not more. However, alienation in the school environment is not resolved. My peers refuse to help me with simple work because they are too competitive and might ruin their own chances of success. Whenever I ask one of my "friends" for help, the usual response is "I don't have time" or "It's too difficult", but the real answer is that they don't want to. seeing the success of others like that. gets hurt. This alienation in high school has created a learning gap where the “smart” stay “smart” and the “stupid” stay “stupid” due to the lack of compassion and assistance most students offer. The real story comes from the classes I take. I'm currently taking AP classes that I don't need or want to take to try to compete. However, as a human, I can't handle the stress of classes but I still have to take them. Even though I am not interested in these demanding courses, I am still forced to compete with the students. The second subpoint of Marx's critique is that workers are alienated from the act of labor. Marx believes that work is what makes.