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Technological Society and its Discontents

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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