‘Materialism’ and Alienation

A considerable number of scholars agree that the mastery of capital, which prevails not only on the socio-economic order but also on the production of ideas and ideologies, is responsible for the fragmentation of cultures ensuing from the destruction of human kinships and interaction. The latter(prenominal) arises from the permeation of capitalism into the value systems, and, as suggested by Buber, ultimately creating the I-It birth, in which individuals identify increasingly with tangible goods, or derive their brain of fulfillment from consuming goods and the symbols attached to these, sooner than the I-thou relationship or the cultivation of centerful relationships with their fellow individuals.As individuals seek their sense of being from consumption, they are change more and more from society, which scholars such as Kasser (2003) suggests would lead into the loss of meaning in wizs life and the frustration that goes with it. This frustration is built by societal standa rds that put premium all everywhere the accumulation of actual riches over non-hooey fulfillment.The Pursuit of Money, Depression, and AlienationThis is illustrated in the life myth of C.P. Ellis, a man driven to join the Klu Klux Klan by his frustration over their familys impoverishment and his admit insecurity over being a low-in scratch, white American, and his break into a contented labor union adapter despite. Born into a poor family, Ellis depression over his and his familys fiscal status started from being perceived by others as poor and necessitous in his childhood, as reflected by the way he felt race treated him and his father somebody looking at him and making entertainment of him and making fun of me.His fathers un joy mirror the kindred unhappiness that characterized Ellis life as he struggled to make ends meet for his own family later on, to work, never a day without work, worked all the overtime I could get. Ellis predicament, according to Kasser (2003) , is typical of people who strongly value the pursuit of wealth and possessions. Kasser notes that these people report lower psychological well-being than those who are little concerned with such aims. Not surprisingly, Ellis earlier experiences wherein his concern and frustration over financial freedom is marked by the absence of a favorable life and of meaningful interactions with people as his life is taken over by the need to his above his socio-economic status.This makes him unable to see people beyond the labels and the propaganda, and also illustrate the attraction of the Ku Klux Klan to white, low-income individuals. Thus, Ellis motivation for joining the Ku Klux Klan, is his wrath and cheekiness to his inability to move up the rungs of the economic and social ladder.Racist Organizations and the financial backing of Social IsolationThe Ku Klux Klan, as a group that presents itself as the messiah of the white race, also contains within itself the racist symbols of being superior, a transcendence complex that is based on the skin color of being white. The Ku Klux Klan indeed presents an opportunity to feel queen in another(prenominal) way, by vowing to go along the purity of the white race, fight communism, and protect white womanhood. .For C.P. Ellis, the moment of authority is his being exalted Cyclops of the Klan but it is merely an extension of his ardent for a high social status Heres a guy whos worked all his life and struggled all his life to be something, and heres the moment to be something.However, the Klu Klux Klan does not give its members a sense of fulfillment that is based on being able to trail a meaningful relationship between its members, but reinforces the isolation of another marginalized sector of societythe black people. Moreover, the Klans power is based not on the empowerment of the sector it represents On the contrary, it blurs its members ability to recognize the truly problems of social inequality by curiously tu rning to the blacks as a channel for the dissipation of its anger. While Ellis is interested in the Klan for its sense of belonging, he was more drawn to the aspect of being in controlsomething that, age he clearly could not achieve by being poor, he could at least exercise on people deemed to be wanting(p) by society.Ellis, however, was not intent on deriving meaning from the mixed bag associated with spirituality and religion home life, relationships, and familyhaving fun and excitementand contributing to the residential district (Kasser 2003). He was merely looking for a scapegoat to focus his resentment on, from which he thought he could attain the large number of thinkable goals people might have, such as desires to feel safe and secure, to admirer the world be a better place, to have a abundant sex life, and to have good relationships with other. (Kasser 2003) In this phase of his life, Ellis therefore retains the I-it relationship in his life suggested by Buber through his remaining fixation with material wealth and the social status that comes with it.Transformation, Empowerment, and RedemptionIronically, C.P. Ellis genuine empowerment would come not from material success but from disillusionment with the false power of the Klu Klux Klan and subsequent transformation into a man who recognized that people were more than their skin color. This would come from his reluctant involvement with the efforts to minimize racial favouritism in which he was forced to work with Ann Atwatera black well-mannered rights advocateto pursue a better school system for their children. Ellis transformation would not be easy, however, and it would only come with the credit that those who had economic and governmental power were using the rift between the blacks and the whites to further their own agendas As long as they kept low-income whites and low income blacks fighting, theyre gonna maintain control.This realization would preclude his transformation as he knew more about the relationship between economic status and political power, and as he realised the importance of solidarity with his fellow poor The whole world was opening up , and I was learning new truths that I had never learned before. I was beginning to look at a black person, shake pass with him, and see him as a human being. The attainment of wealth would wrench less and less for C. P. Ellis as he discovered that although material things were big to people, individuals should not let it rule their lives.Consequently, Ellis concern on the goals of the labor union with which he would be involved in later, would give him more happiness and fulfillment, his sense of self mirroring the state attained by people make by growth, meaning, and aesthetics, rather than by insecurity and the attempt to fit in with what other people expect (Kasser, 2003). Ellis life and general direction is at a time a stark contrast to the sense of low well-being, high distress, and difficultness adj usting to life (Kasser, 2003) that he experienced earlier in his life when his sense of self was anchored on material possessions.C.P. Ellis life and experience therefore reflects the dangers of material wealth as a central figure in ones life. It provides a concrete example of one mans transcendence over the alienation that people in a super consumerist and materialist society experiences, and illustrates the importance of establishing an I-Thou basis of our identity and sense of self rather than anchoring our lives to the pursuit of financial gains. More importantly, it shows how having control on ones life will not be achieved solely by having financial control, but by being able to appease our conscience, and striving for the higher ideals of humanity.