Hail Mary Shelley this week archive [archive list] [kitchen door]Often it is said that Frankenstein is about the
Industrial Revolution's destructive effects, a view
for which a good deal of support is to be found
in the writings of Mary Shelley's mother and
others such as Robert Owen. The former wrote
of the effect of displacement of women, who lost
employment to machines and were left with few
options, the foremost being prostitution. The latter
experimented successfully with new production
methods, both technological and human.
Careful reading of such sources, however, shows
the harmful effects to be things that cannot be
blamed on technology's progress alone. Here
several statements on the subject are offered
for the purpose of comparison of several things,
among them the moral tendencies of their
authors.Part of the problem is the prevailing approach
that seeks to reduce the natural world including
ourselves to the level of nothing more than a
mechanical process.[author and link to text]
The Industrial Revolution and its consequences
have increased the life-expectancy of those who
live in "advanced" countries, but they have
destabilized society, have made life unfulfilling,
have subjected human beings to indignities, have
led to widespread psychological suffering (in the
Third World to physical suffering as well) and have
inflicted severe damage on the natural world.
[author and link to text]
. . . if a fraction of the money currently being invested
in developing genetically manipulated crops were
applied to understandig and improving traditional
systems of agriculture, which have stood the all-
important test of time, the results would be remarkable.
[author and link to text]
The continued development of technology will worsen
the situation. It will certainly subject human beings
to greater indignities and inflict greater damage on
the natural world, it will probably lead to greater
social disruption and psychological suffering, and
it may lead to increased physical suffering even in
"advanced countries".[author and link to text]Theodore Kaczynski, the Unabomber's Introduction to
his Manifesto link to text>>> [ The Unabomber's Manifesto ]
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Prince Charles, BBC Reith Lectures 2000
link to text>>>[ Reith 2000 ]
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