Alienation in the Post Cold War Era
Chapter 8
The Market Personality Today:
The Further Transformation of Human Beings Into Things
The Possessive, Consumerist Personality
Human relationships in capitalist society are governed by the effect of commodities and the marketplace on our social and personal development. To survive, most people who are considered “successful” must adapt their personality to the laws of the market, with its constant twists and turns. They must develop a character with the features that the marketplace deems necessary. Because this alienated character type is controlled by the forces of the market, it may appropriately be called the market personality.
The market personality is fundamentally a salesperson—a salesperson whose “product” is himself or herself, and whose “market” extends to all aspects of life: economic, political, social, and personal. An old-fashioned toothbrush salesman had to subordinate the presentation of his genuine self to what sells toothbrushes best, but he only had to do this during the time he spent going door-to-door with his sample case. In modern capitalism, however, this type of behavior is not restricted to the time spent on the job. To succeed and be accepted under the prevailing social norms, one needs to sell oneself in all aspects of human relationships—even friendships.
The market personality defines “who I am” by the behavior that sells him best and helps him advance his status faster than others. At parties, for example, the market personality will ignore most of the other guests, focusing exclusively on “networking” with (i.e., groveling to) those who have the greatest social prestige, and so can help him advance in life. In selling himself, the market personality treats himself as a “human commodity.” Just like buyers of any other commodity—a chair or a car—the buyers of the market personality will choose the most attractive one available. The market personality must say the right things, smile at the proper intervals, and so on, so that he can be a more attractive commodity to the buyer.
The crudest and clearest example of this is the job interview, where in order to satisfy the expectations of the interviewer, one must “sell” oneself by offering better answers, better looks, better smiles, and more “smarts” than the competitors—anything but one’s real self. But this bullshit-art, in subtler ways, pervades all aspects of life under capitalism. The façade is king, and the market personality has no idea who is the real person behind it.
The price of becoming a human commodity is high. Those who constantly wear the mask of the salesperson lose touch with their inner humanity. To avoid the pain of their loss, the system encourages people to consume. This maintains profits and appeases—up to a point—people’s dissatisfaction and inner void. In this way, consumerism is closely connected with the market personality. Ultimately, both are traceable to the irrationality of the marketplace.
The formation of a consumerist personality begins at childhood. Every child craves the presence of warm and loving parents—at least one. Unfortunately, in today’s hectic, two-working-parents world, children often have to do without it. In the absence of the parents he so needs, the child is forced to accept whatever he is given in their place. What is given, in this society, are gadgets, high-tech toys, expensive athletic shoes, and so on. But since these frivolities are not what he really needs, they never fill the void. Yet he cannot help grasping for them anyway because he must compulsively do something to fill the void of love, which, for a human being, is nearly impossible to tolerate.