In his Capital: Critique of Political Economy, Karl Marx introduces the term commodity fetishism to his theory. Marx believed that once a good is produced and enters the market, the monetary value that is ascribed to the product works to sever its ties from the production process. Potential buyers no longer equate the product with the work that was put into it. Instead, its value comes from its price tag. The consumer, in turn, sees only one glowing perspective of the product, while a veil is cast over the hard, sometimes dreary, labour that is put into it.
The common food advertisement is one of the most glaring examples of commodity fetishism today and momentously illustrates the thickness of the veil that is cast in front of consumers.
Whether it be McDonald’s commercials or Pizza Hut ads, we tend to get up close and personal with the grease infused delicacies of the fast food era every day. Often mouth-watering, the products showcased become items in and of themselves, generating no connection to their production process. We see each Big Mac in its unique form, an eclectic mass of bun, burger and lettuce, but only recognize it as a single entity: it is THE Big Mac, and can be obtained for the reasonable price of 7.99 (that comes with a delicious coke and piping hot fries).
It’s easy to get lost in a world that is dictated by price tags since money probably the most significant lens through which we see the world. But in the process, we lose touch with whats behind the veil. For every Big Mac, we don’t get first-hand tours of the industrial agricultural machine that makes it possible. And if we did, we might not buy those burgers.
A very good exemplification of commodity fetishism, exactly what happens once use-value becomes exchange value – any MORE examples?
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There is an urgent need to re-invent Marxism, which has become the fossil of what it once was: whoever is not a Marxist is puzzled even as to what the word fetishism originally meant. This is, when the Portuguese explorers of West Africa witnessed the religious veneration of things they found there. How can the average folk possible understand that they are “worshipping” a Big Mac? They will answer, “Are you crazy? I just like this food, how can you even suggest that this hamburger is like Jesus?” Go try to explain the matter of a “veil” which is “cast over” hard labour to any college graduate: they will feel as if you were speaking Chinese. It would take hours-long explanations, for instance, as to how in Middle Age Europe there was far less alienation than there is today. One would have to explain how alienation is actually ruining people’s lives, their lives, yet, who has time to listen anymore? Re-inventing Marxism is hard work; it seems that hard-core Marxists are not up to that hard theoretical work, so their praxis is little less than useless for social change.