The Subjective Essence of Wealth in Marx and the Critique of Digital Alienation

Abstract

The essence of wealth in a capitalist economic form is reduced by political economy to the source of value—labor, thereby presenting it as a subjectivity. With the development of private ownership, labor shifts from being special to general and, upon contact with capital, becomes alienated abstract labor. Marx, through his critique of abstract labor, demonstrates from historical, social, and subjective dimensions that the subjective essence of wealth is the realization of human needs, abilities, and creativity through free and conscious labor under the conditions of the abolition of private property. This provides a solid theoretical foundation for critiquing the alienation of digital labor in digital capitalism, such as the historical continuation of abstraction, the algorithmic restructuring of labor-capital relations, and the obscuring of labor subjectivity and emotions.