๐ญ๐ฅ๐ญ INDUSTRIAL SOCIETY AND ITS FUTURE ๐ญ๐ฏ๐ญ
โถ๏ธIntroduction โถ๏ธ
1๏ธโฃ. The Industrial Revolution ๐ญ and its consequences have been a disaster ๐ฃ for the human race. They have greatly increased โฌ๏ธ the life-expectancy ๐ of those of us who live in โadvancedโ. countries๐บ๐ธ๐ฌ๐ง๐ซ๐ท๐ฉ๐ช, but they have destabilized society๐, have made life unfulfilling ๐ญ, have subjected human beings to indignities ๐, have led to widespread psychological sufferingโ๏ธ๐ง โ๏ธ(in the Third World ๐ธ๐ณ๐ต๐ธ๐ธ๐ด๐ฟ๐ผ to physical suffering as well) and have inflicted severe damage on the natural world ๐ฅ๐ณ๐ฅ. The continued development of technology will worsen the situation ๐โก๏ธ๐ฑโก๏ธโ๏ธโก๏ธโ. It will certainly subject human beings ๐จโ๐ผ๐ฉโ๐ป๐ฉโ๐๐ต๏ธโโ๏ธ๐จโ๐ซ๐จโ๐จ๐ฐ to greater indignities and inflict greater damage on the natural world ๐ฒ๐ข๐ณ, it will probably lead to greater social disruption ๐ฑ and psychological suffering ๐ง โ๏ธ, and it may lead to increased physical suffering even in โadvancedโ countries ๐ธ๐ฌ๐จ๐ฆ ๐ช๐ธ๐ธ๐ช.
2๏ธโฃ. The industrial-technological system may survive ๐ or it may break down ๐. If it survives, it MAY eventually achieve a low โฌ๏ธ level of physical ๐ช and psychological ๐ง suffering, but only after passing through a long ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐ก๐ข๐ฃ๐ค๐ฅ๐ฆ๐งand very painful ๐ค period of adjustment and only at the cost ๐ฐ of permanently reducing human beings and many other living organisms ๐จ๐ฉโ๐ฆฐ๐ผ๐ฆ๐ท๐ธ๐ฑ to engineered ๐ทโโ๏ธ๐ทโโ๏ธ products and mere cogs โ๏ธ in the social machine. Furthermore, if the system survives, the consequences will be inevitable ๐ฏ: There is no way of reforming ๐ญ or modifying โ๏ธ the system so as to prevent it from depriving people of dignity and autonomy๐.
3๏ธโฃ. If the system breaks ๐ down the consequences will still be very painful ๐ค. But the bigger ๐ช the system grows โฌ๏ธ the more disastrous the results of its breakdown will be, so if it is to break down it had best break down sooner ๐ rather than later ๐.
4๏ธโฃ. We therefore advocate a revolution โagainst the industrial system ๐ญ. This revolution may or may not make use of violence ๐ซ; it may be sudden ๐ฅ or it may be a relatively gradual process ๐spanning a few decades. We canโt predict ๐ฎ any of that. But we do outline ๐ฒ in a very general way the measures ๐ that those who hate the industrial system ๐ should take in order to prepare the way for a revolution โ against that form of society. This is not to be a POLITICAL ๐revolution. Its object will be to overthrow not governments but the ecoqnomic ๐ฐ and technological ๐ป basis of the present society.