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Quibble - this comes from Smith. It's not specifically a Marxist complaint - just one popular with them.

Mind referencing where Smith highlights this as a drawback of capitalism? I'd like to learn more.

Book V of the Wealth of Nations has a long passage about the ill effects of the division of labor (or more specifically, of the constant repetition of simple tasks) on the workers.

Here: https://www.marxists.org/reference/archive/smith-adam/works/... (search for "In the progress of the division of labour")

Cheers, that was a good read. I'd still attribute the argument to Marx, because Smith doesn't seem to link this effect with the inherent values of capitalism.

Turns out there's also a wikipedia page outlining the history of this line of reasoning:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Division_of_labour#Henri-Louis...

But the word 'Capitalism' did not exist in Smith's day!

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