In case anyone was scrolling by and is interested the quote is a bit misleading out of context, Marx isn’t saying we should do this, he is more saying that capitalism requires “us” to do this, while telling us if we just stop eating avocado toast we too could become part of the billionaire class. While of course they themselves would never live without these supposed needless things.
I think “alienated” is a strong indicator of the negative perspective of the Author to the written text. I don’t think people use “alienated” in a positive setting. So I don’t think it is misleading at all, tbh
In case anyone was scrolling by and is interested the quote is a bit misleading out of context, Marx isn’t saying we should do this, he is more saying that capitalism requires “us” to do this, while telling us if we just stop eating avocado toast we too could become part of the billionaire class. While of course they themselves would never live without these supposed needless things.
Read it in context here Need, Production and Division of Labor, this link is directly to the section the quote is from but in my opinion the formatting isn’t as good.
I think the point comes across pretty well. “Alienated” doesn’t have a very positive connotation.
I think “alienated” is a strong indicator of the negative perspective of the Author to the written text. I don’t think people use “alienated” in a positive setting. So I don’t think it is misleading at all, tbh
Marx was a very adroit writer, and not above dry sarcasm.