The Key is Perspective

Via Dr. Reynolds I found a link to this excellent piece over at Impearls on the industrial revolution and its real legacy.

A very thoughtfull bit and personally timely since I just had a conversation on this subject with someone on campus who was convinced that the industrial revolution was a terrible thing and that we should stop it from happening in the third world. I've heard this before and the impression that some people have is that industrialization is increasing poverty in the developing world.

Poppycock! Those shanty towns onthe outskirts of 3rd world cities.....they, like the tenaments of our 19th century are filled with people who (usually) came there of their own free will because it is a STEP UP from their previous condition. To us this seems unreal as we are living...well....in conditions that are better still presicely because that the industrial revolution happened. Living at a subsistance level is not cool when its not a vacation, but rather the onjly thing you'll ever know....it SUCKS!

This is not to say that things can't be made better, especially given new technologies that allow developing nations to leapfrog over, say, a need for stokers and children in amongst the gears, but the Rouseau-like facination with an (ahem) pastoral lifestyle completely ignores the misery of human history, and why people flocked to the cities from the dawn of time.


Now its true that I've wated 4 paragraphs of pixels stating the bloody obvious, but Gates of Vienna points out that it is not at all obvious to some people who pine for civilizations demise.