In a society with an economic environment that accepts “head hunters” (somewhat unpleasant connotations attach to this term), that accepts “down-sizing” or restructuring as normal in the pursuit of the all important “bottom-line”; a society which encourages its citizens to sell themselves to the highest bidder in the job market in pursuit of ever more desirable material possessions, diminishes its citizens to the point where many are left confused with no real no-tion of their self worth. In short they have become commodities.
The result is that many people today live and think only in terms of limited self interest. They believe that they are acting on behalf of their best interests when actually their main efforts are directed to money and what is termed success (however this is defined). In the process of seeking what they are told is best for them, they deceive themselves about the fact that their fundamental human potentialities remain unfulfilled and by accepting such a deception they lose sight of their core values, which remain unchangeable. This, in many instances, leads to lack of life harmony, to stress and anxiety – conditions very prevalent in today’s work place.
It must be remembered that in any situation, a person may be considered to have at least three identities or persona – firstly, the persona they have identified as theirs; secondly, the perso-na others identify them by; and finally, the person they really are (that core which is the reali-ty behind the word “I”). The first two depend on the role being played at the time, and every-one is a role player; roles as a businessman, father, mother, brother, sister, son, daughter, em-ployer, employee, customer and so on. The list is endless, but in each one a person acts, or performs in a way that is in accord with who they think they are, or that is expected of them. For instance a person would not treat their spouse or partner as they would a workshop em-ployee (hopefully!). Neither would they behave towards the General Manager as they would to a debtor who is behind with an agreed payment schedule. The final identity, or a person’s true persona, is determined by their set of values; their natural “fall back” position when con-fronted by any situation.
Under the influence of the market, the concept of who “I think I am”, has shifted from mean-ing “I am what I possess” to meaning “I am as you desire me” – in other words a commodity. So divorced are many people from their core values as human beings, that as sellers of a commodity (what they believe the job market wants) they feel separated from what they want to sell. To be sure, they are interested in what they believe themselves to be; immensely interested in their success in the market, but they are the managers, the employers, the sellers – and the commodity. Their self interest turns out to be the interest in “him” as the subject who employs “himself”, who is also the commodity, for which a person strives to obtain the optimal price on the job or personality market. Such people are now divorced from themselves and their value as human beings.
Now it is difficult to draw a line between what a person calls “me” and what is called “mine”. People feel and act about certain things that they consider to be theirs (or what they believe makes them who they are) very much as they feel and act about themselves. Their fame, their children, the work they do, may be as dear to them as are their bodies, and arouse the same emotions and feelings and the same defences if attacked. In its widest possible sense, how-ever, a person’s real identity or core values (what makes them a human being), is more than the sum total of all they can call theirs, more than their body, and their skills and abilities, their clothes and their house, their partner or spouse and children, their ancestors and friends, their reputation and accomplishments, their land and motor cars and yacht, their investment portfolio and bank account. These things give them the same emotions of pride and success. If these grow and prosper, people feel triumphant, if they dwindle or are lost, people feel un-happy and diminished – not necessarily to the same degree for each thing, but in much the same way for all.
The increasing worship of success (again, however this is defined) has generally failed to sat-isfy peoples primal urge to be who they really are. There is an increasing number of people to whom everything they are doing seems to lack fulfilment. They are still under the spell of the slogans which preach faith in the secular paradise of success and glamour. But doubt, that necessary condition for all progress, has begun to work on them and has made them ready to ask what their real self-interest as human beings really is. They have become dissatisfied with being a commodity.
The real tragedy, such is the power of the “market”, is that what has been described above is now considered normal.
Anyone in this situation needs to come to terms with who they really are. There is a differ-ence between a person’s REAL interests and those imposed on them by any given society. Some people may find it difficult to experience life in terms of their own emotions, thoughts and sense of proportion, rather than in terms of the experiences that they are supposed to have, as dictated by the expectations of the “market” and society. In other words they are required to fit in with what the market wants or what the “competition” is providing. They are squeezed into a “shape” that would not be of their own choosing, just to comply with market expectations.
Anything which directs a person into a channel not of their natural inclination; any constric-tion to personal growth and the development of their full potential as human beings will give rise to stress and anxiety and general lack of balance or harmony in their life.
Acknowledgement: “Man for Himself” by Eric Fromm, which inspired this article.
Have you become a commodity? - To learn more about this author, visit Andrew Campbell-Watt's Website.
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