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So it's been said about the workers in the United States post World War two that they found themselves in a very unique situation in terms of what options are made available to them.

Capitalism the massive improvements that come along with it in technology and efficiency has made it possible for the average person to do things only the super rich.

Had been able to do throughout human history that four consumers in this post World War two world.

People no longer need to live together under one roof like it's little house in the prairie sharing a communal horse and doing shadow puppetry on the walls for entertainment.

No, we live in a new world now we live in a world where it is entirely feasible for the average consumer to buy their own house far better than a shack on a prairie by their own car with the power of 300 of those communal horses.

And through the advent of mass media and entertainment broadcasting have instant access to mountains of art and cultural artifacts to consume with the push of a button.

A little bit better than using your hand and trying to make it look like an alligator chomping on the wall.

Theodore Dorner and Max Horkheimer two members of the Frankfurt school who co-wrote the book the dialectic of enlightenment would no doubt agree that capitalism is responsible for all these changes and what's possible for the average person.

But they want to ask the question why is it that there seems to be such a strong correlation between the trappings of capitalism and the alienation of society.

In other words, when people get the house and they get the car and they have access to more art than they could ever consume.

Why is it that the worker in the 20th century seems to be the most alienated from other people around them and the most alienated from the process of creating the world they're living in in human history.

That another way to think of that house that everyone's able to buy now is that it's a box that instead of being a member of a local community and feeling like an integral part of a group of people.

Now practically nobody knows their neighbors. They just go home and shut themselves away in this box. And here's the important part.

It's a product that was sold to you. That house is a product that if you aren't mindful and take effort to prevent it from happening.

It's a product that aids in this process of alienation from other people.

But that's not the only box we live in. Think about it. Instead of sharing a communal horse where you might have to talk to some people.

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