Several theorists that I have come across so far when reading about alienation emphasise concepts of self-realisation and objectification, suggesting that un-alienated work consists in achieving them both. Indeed, they could be synonymous. Other candidates for features of un-alienated work are autonomy, scope for creativity and curiosity, passion and a particular interface between the individual and the contact communities. But by looking at the Taoist understanding of self-realisation, I have come to suspect that all of these concepts can be described as features of self-realisation, which is the key to tackling alienation.

Taoism, an ancient Chinese philosophy, has a phrase "tzu-jan" that translates roughly as "of itself so". It encapsulates the nature or essence of something that requires no further explanation, and that simply is. We can, for example, rationalise our breathing, but we live best when we seek only understanding and don't interfere. We all, according to Taoism, have an all-encompassing personal essence called one's Tao, that defines who we are and yet that cannot be expressed. We are also supposed to try and live according to and in harmony with our Tao. It is important that we should not strive, but should instead "going with the flow" of our Tao.

So self-realisation to a Taoist would not be striving to objectify ourselves in the physical world, nor striving to earn money, but simply living according to our passions, our innate curiosity and creativity, objectifying ourselves insofar as it helps us to better understand our Tao. A wholly un-alienated person would live a fulfilling life by partaking in those kinds of activities. It sounds absurdly simple, common sense even, but the implication is that our work and leisure time ought to be oriented towards these features of self-realisation, along with all of the other aspects of alienation (social and political), rather than living for the sake of the accumulation of capital and commodities.

On a related note, this perspective happens to preclude the notion that a kind of social alienation can only be overcome by central economic planning. Every individual must be free to realise themselves, and given hte inexpressible nature of each individual's Tao, such a feat would be impossible for a central beurocracy. So given this incompatibility, we have to chose which kind of alienation is worse, or more worth solving.