Technological Society and its Discontents
Technological Society and its Discontents Man, Machine, Managerialism Frank Wright For centuries -at least- we have heard from many corners a restatement of the idea that civilisation is making people sick. It is a serious objection to the way we live and is one deserving attention. Here follows a treatment of the technological society. In this post I will cover some of the main arguments, from Leibniz to the Social Contract of Jean-Jacques Rousseau , his contemporary Voltaire , the anarchism of Proudhon , Primitivism , Luddism , the environmental movement beginning with Earth First! and the work of Theodore Kaczyinski , known as the Unabomber. Finally I will introduce Jacques Ellul , and his book La Technique (The Technological Society). Technology as craft The Greek word (and inevitable Goddess) Techne means something like ‘craft’. Crafty humans have been making clever machines for a long time. You may have heard of the Trojan horse of Odysseus, most resourceful of Gre