>>11655077a fetish is an idol that you worship as a proxy for a spirit. it ends up getting its own sentimental value even though it's only an intermediary. it's like cherishing a birthday gift beyond its intrinsic value.
in industrial production the process of production mass production is impersonal to an extent that the balance between intrinsic value and sentimental value is lost. even though there are humans on both end of the transaction, commodities have no sentimental value. this takes away something important from life that was present before industrial production became the dominant mode. in marxism this is called commodity fetishism and it's one of the features of capitalism.
