Self and Society: Karl Marx

Illustration by ChatGPT

We like to believe that we are independent individuals. We have our own clear identities (proved by umpteen cards like Aadhar, PAN, Licenses…], our opinions, ambitions… We are constantly reminded to Be yourself, Follow your passion, Live your truth… The idea of a sovereign self is quite seductive.

But

How much of what we call the self is actually our own?

I would like to look at that question with the eyes of Karl Marx, especially because good ol’ Marx Uncle is being dumped as an antique anachronism in many countries including mine.

Before we move on to Marx, let me tell you that this topic can be looked at in many ways and all the answers could be equally illuminating. For example, Ralph Waldo Emerson would set us contemplating the moral courage of the individual in a tyrannical society. George Orwell would show us how society or the state invades and reshapes the self. We could explore the tension between natural self and social self with Jean-Jacques Rousseau. Our very own Mahatma Gandhi would ask us to transform the society through personal moral discipline. And so on. But let us accompany Karl Marx today.

Marx does not begin with the individual. He begins with conditions like labour, class, and the material arrangements of life. For him, the self is not an isolated centre of freedom, but something shaped – subtly, persistently – by the structures in which it is embedded.

We do not simply live in society. We are, in part, made by it.

Our desires are not entirely spontaneous. They are cultivated.

Our choices are not entirely free. They are framed.

Even our sense of what is possible – what counts as success, dignity, or failure – is quietly negotiated by forces we rarely see.

What we experience as inner life may already be social.

Consider how early we begin to internalise the world around us. The language we speak, the aspirations we inherit, the fears we absorb: they all arrive before we have the capacity to question them. By the time we begin to assert a “self,” much of its vocabulary has already been written.

We call it personality. Marx might call it history speaking through us. Raj, for example, is ambitious, disciplined, and success-driven. He works long hours, dreams of financial independence, follows market trends, invests wisely, and measures his progress through promotions, salary hikes, and lifestyle upgrades. “This is who I am,” he will assert proudly.

Wait a moment.

Where does Ram’s definition of success come from? Why does stability mean a corporate job and not, say, farming? Why does self-worth align so closely with income and consumption?

Marx would posit history as the answer to the above questions. A post-liberalisation economy that glorifies upward mobility is part of history rather than Raj’s individual self. So is a culture that equates dignity with financial success. Also the system that rewards certain forms of labour while rendering others invisible.

Raj is not merely choosing ambition; he is inheriting a world where ambition has already been defined for him. Of course, Raj has the freedom to choose. He is both the author of his life and a character shaped by a script written long before he arrived.

Now

Let us relocate Raj to a socialist framework that follows Marx’s ideals as far as that’s humanly possible.

He would still be ambitious. But he would be asking different questions. The question ‘How far can I rise above others?’ has no relevance in a socialist system. So Raj would be asking: How well can I contribute within the system I am part of? Raj wouldn’t have to worry about his material needs since the system would take care of them. Basic needs such as education, healthcare, and housing are not prizes to be won in a socialist system but guarantees. Wealth accumulation is not a measure of success here, and so Raj can focus on other things.

Where capitalism says Distinguish yourself, a socialist system would say: Align yourself.

The self is shaped largely by your society, in other words.

We need to become conscious of that shaping. Not to transcend it, but to see how little of us was ever entirely our own.

PS. This post is a part of Blogchatter A2Z Challenge 2026

Previous Posts in this series

Authority	Bigotry	Courage
Dissent	Empathy	Faith
Gaslighting	Hero Worship	Integrity
Joker	Kafka in His Labyrinth	Loyalty vs Conscience
Majoritarianism	Negative Capability	Outrage Culture
Populism	Quixotism	Self & Society

 

Tomorrow: Tolerance – Sree Narayana Guru