Comprehensive Study Notes: Simmel’s Metropolis and Marx’s Alienated
Georg Simmel and the Psychology of the Metropolis
The Blase Attitude and "Graying Out": Georg Simmel describes the psychological state of the urban dweller as one of being "blase." This is characterized by a "shutting down" where everything is perceived as "gray." The individual becomes nonchalant and indifferent to the stimuli of the city.
Concept of Reserve: In social interactions, people naturally hold something back. This "reserve" often involves keeping the most central aspects of one's individuality hidden. Simmel argues that in a big city, the scope of interaction is intentionally limited.
Reserve vs. Aversion: Simmel posits that reserve is always on the brink of "aversion" or even hatred. While small-town residents are often viewed as more friendly, big-city people appear unfriendly due to this protective reserve. There is a very thin line between hatred, aversion, and mere social reserve.
The Function of Reserve: Reserve is not purely negative; it serves as a mechanism for self-preservation. It allows individuals to navigate a city of millions without being overwhelmed by every person they encounter.
Social Interaction Case Study: The "Gen Z Stare"
Interpreting the Stare: The lecture discusses the "Gen Z stare" (identifying it as appearing "blank" or "grayed out") as a modern manifestation of Simmel’s concepts.
Blase Attitude Interpretation: Some argue the stare is a sign of "nervous exhaustion" and self-preservation. In this view, explaining things that are "obvious" is a waste of energy that the blase individual refuses to spend.
Reserve Interpretation: Others see it as a form of reserve used when individuals are confronted by others but do not wish to share their personal opinions or meet them with their individual selves. It can also be a reaction to being socially "behind" or feeling awkward/nervous.
Enabling Effects of Indifference:
Physical Navigation: Indifference allow individuals to skip "pestering" interactions (e.g., people handing out flyers on the UCLA campus during orientation week) to reach class on time.
Selective Attention: In the digital age, users scroll past thousands of stimuli. The "digital version" of the Gen-Z stare allows individuals to ignore group chat chattering and focus on "something real."
The Paradox of Freedom and Loneliness
Distance and Freedom: Simmel argues that keeping distance from strangers produces freedom. By not interacting, an individual is free from the "ties," "expectations," and "obligations" that come with close-knit communities (e.g., small villages or churches where everyone has known each other since childhood).
Proximity and Anonymity: In big cities, bodily proximity (being packed in a small space like a Koreatown beer garden) can actually heighten the sense of freedom. The fact that individuals are not forced to interact despite being physically close makes them feel more independent and less accountable to others.
The Flipside of Freedom: This freedom is inseparable from loneliness. The lack of genuine connection means relationships are often anonymous or purely transactional. To be free in the city often requires being a little bit lonely.
Economic Structure and the Division of Labor
The City as the Seat of Money Economy: In the metropolis, the division of labor is developed to its fullest and fastest. Tasks are hyper-specialized, and individuals must do something very specific for their living.
Individualization as Economic Fact: Under the economic structure of the city, people are compelled to be unique to be "seen." Individuality becomes an economic necessity rather than just a psychological need.
Example: Max or name clavicular: A New Jersey teenager who stands out in the influencer space exemplifies this modern division of labor where an individual makes money off specific attention and unique functional roles.
Comparative Theory: Marx, Durkheim, and Simmel
Karl Marx on Division of Labor: Focuses on Class Struggle and Conflict. It is the beginning of economic production leading to capitalism, exploitation, and the divide between the bourgeoisie and the proletariat.
Emile Durkheim on Division of Labor: Focuses on Social Order and Cohesion. He is concerned with social integration and how specialized roles create organic solidarity (keeping society together).
Georg Simmel on Division of Labor: Focuses on the Personality and Interiority. He examines how the money economy shakes the internal psychological life of the metropolitan individual.
Objective Spirits vs. Subjective Spirits
Objective Spirit: These are the "objectively existing achievements" of the city, such as culture, shows (billboards on Sunset Boulevard), technology, and the vast growth of the economy. Individuals enjoy the benefits and variety of these achievements.
Subjective Spirit: This is the internal cultivation of the individual—one's own capacity, preferences, and deep individuality.
The Conflict: Simmel argues that as the objective spirit grows faster and faster, it diminishes the subjective spirit. Individuals become "cogs" in a cultural system, constantly playing "catch up" with the external world, making it harder to cultivate something truly of their own.
Historical Forms of Freedom
18th Century Individuality/Freedom: Based on "shared humanity." It is the freedom to be a human being, breaking free from old paternalistic, family, and church ties.
19th Century Individuality/Freedom: Based on "qualitative uniqueness." It is the deliberate, often exaggerated performance of things that set an individual apart from others (e.g., early Lady Gaga or unique tattoos).
Urban Competition: The big city is the stage where these two forms of freedom compete. While urban life releases people from obligations (18th century), it also forces them into hyper-performance and specialty that might actually restrict deep human expression (19th century).
Karl Marx: Alienation and Structural Critique
Definition of Alienation: For Marx, alienation is structural, not psychological. A worker can be happy or "bought in" (hustling to get ahead) but is still alienated if they do not own the means of production or control the labor process.
Four Types of Alienation:
Alienation from the Act/Process of Labor: The work is forced and external. The worker does not design their task; it is imposed by the company (e.g., Disney scripting how a janitor must smile and work).
Alienation from the Product: The more the worker produces, the more the world of objects (e.g., luxury watches like "Brailing Riley") confronts them as something they cannot afford or own.
Alienation from Species-Being: Humans are naturally creative and purposeful. Capitalist labor reduces humans to animalistic functions, performing repetitive tasks that deny their intrinsic nature.
Alienation from Fellow Men: Relationships become transactional. Other laborers are seen as competitors for wages rather than fellow humans.
Relationship Between Private Property and Wage Labor: Marx argues that political economists are wrong to think private property causes wage labor. Rather, wage labor is the initial cause of private property. Over time, they become a "dialectical relation" where they presuppose each other.
Example: Disney and Stock Prices: The labor of workers (service, magical experiences) produces high profitability, which increases stock prices. While workers produce the value, the stock (private property) is owned by stockholders and the corporation, illustrating how wage labor flows into private property.
Questions & Discussion
Question from Professor: "How do you socialize in a wedding of 100 people?"
Response (Student): "I honestly just talk to the people on my table… it's grouped by the groom's side and the bride's side… you socialize with your respective side."
Analysis: This is a way of "holding back" and limiting the scope of interaction to make a large crowd manageable.
Question from Professor: "Why practice reserve?"
Response (Sean): "It's like when you get a little behind… I'm on my own, but it feels good to not have to be there at the same time."
Analysis: This is a concrete example of loneliness and freedom existing simultaneously—feeling good about being "on your own" and free from the pressure to participate.
Discussion on LA Sprawl: The physical distance in Los Angeles (e.g., living in Sunnyvale vs. Marina Del Rey) allows for "flakiness" which is a form of freedom from social obligations.
Discussion on Proximity: Being packed into a bar in Koreatown specifically heightens the feeling that you are not related to anyone else, allowing you to feel free despite the crowd.