Marxism and Commodities

In class this week we learned about Karl Marx and one thing in particular that is still very relevant to the modern day is his thoughts on commodity fetishism.  In short, commodity fetishism is the process of degrading people into things while simultaneously upgrading things into a people-like status.  That is to say that objects gain qualities and values that humans have ascribed to them that are literally non-existent within the raw materials of the object.  This fetishism is measured in the cash-value that people have ascribed to the object which transforms it into a commodity.  An example would be a new pair of Michael Jordon Nikes.  The original function of these shoes is to literally cover your feet to protect them from the harsh ground and from dirt.  However, many Michael Jordon fans fetishize this object and recall the famous free-throw line dunk that’s depicted in the logo or Jordon’s athleticism, clutch victories, and legacy in general.  It is this fetishism, the needless value added to merely a few dollars’ worth of fabric, bringing the retail price up to over a hundred dollars. 

There are also more components to this commodity fetishism seeing as that is only the process of a thing becoming more person-like when there is also the process of the people behind the product becoming more thing-like.  We are blinded by the beautiful commodity, those precious Jordons while at the same time we don’t think about the laborers who are being paid the least possible wage that the owners can get away with.  We are blinded by our fetishism of the commodity so much so that we forget about the possible child laborers, or outsourcing of prison labor, or 15-hour shifts that people went through to produce it.  The commodity is brought to the forefront, the labor and suffering is hidden in the background.  It is the final product, the fetishized commodity, seen on the shelves in the stores, in advertisements, on television, on our bodies, in our closets, and wherever else rather than the laborers and their plight.