In Industrial Society and its Future, by Theodore Kaszynski , the author argues that industrial society is unsustainable and will ultimately fail. Kaszynski makes a strong case for the need for a new society based on ecological principles.
The first part of the book is a history of industrial society, from the early days of the printing press to the present. He argues that the development of technology has outpaced human ability to grasp and control its consequences, and that this has led to a number of negative outcomes.
In particular, Kaszynski points to overpopulation, climate change, and resource depletion as evidence that the current way of life is not sustainable. He argues that technology has made it possible for people to live beyond the carrying capacity of the planet, and that this is not sustainable in the long term.
He argues that the industrial society is based on a number of false assumptions, such as the idea that resources are infinite and that technology can always find new ways to overcome problems. Kaszynski is pessimistic about the ability of industrial society to reform itself, and believes that it will ultimately collapse. He quotes a number of experts who have warned about the dangers of overpopulation, climate change, and resource depletion.
He argues that this new society would be based on small-scale production, local self-sufficiency, and a reduction in consumption. Kaszynski believes that the transition to this new society would be difficult, but argues that it is necessary to avoid a catastrophic collapse of industrial society.
In the beginning of the book, Kaszynski gives us a history of industrial society and how it has changed over time. The story of industrial society began with the printing press and how it changed the way that information was disseminated. In the past, it was difficult for people to get information because there were few sources of information. The first printing press made it easier for people to get information, and people began to spread ideas and to change the way that people thought about certain things. Kaszynski explains that the printing press made it possible for the idea of a democratic society to spread.
The printing press also made it possible for a society to organize itself and to work together. Kaszynski explains that industrial society has changed over time, and the printing press has played a role in that change. Kaszynski explains that it was the industrial revolution that made it possible for a society to produce more than it needed. The industrial revolution made it possible for a society to grow and to expand.
The industrial revolution also made it possible for a society to move away from a subsistence lifestyle. Kaszynski explains that the industrial revolution led to a number of negative outcomes, such as the exploitation of workers and the destruction of the environment. Workers all over the world are paid very low wages while the owners of the factories make huge profits. This has led to a lot of inequality and poverty. The environment has also been destroyed by the industrial revolution. The pollution from factories has made the air and water very dirty.
This has led to many health problems. For example, many people have died from cancer because of the air and water pollution. Kaszynski believes that the industrial revolution has had a positive impact on the world. It has allowed people to live in a more organized society. It has made it possible for people to work together and to produce more goods. However, Kaszynski believes that it has also had a negative impact. It has allowed people to work together in large factories.
Kaszynski believes that these large factories have caused a lot of problems. They have made it possible for people to work together in large numbers. They have also made it possible for people to have jobs that are very similar to each other. These jobs are often very boring and repetitive. Kaszynski believes that these large factories have led to the loss of skills and the loss of creativity.
He argues that people have lost their sense of identity because they have been forced to work in the same factory all their lives. He also argues that these factories have led to the loss of compassion. Kaszynski believes that people no longer care about other people because they no longer have any connection to the outside world. They have become selfish and uncaring. He argues that people are no longer able to connect with one another because they no longer have any contact with nature.
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Kaszynski believes that the loss of contact with nature has led to the loss of compassion. He argues that people no longer care about other people because they no longer have anything to common with them. He believes that people are no longer able to connect with one another because they no longer share any similar interests. In the past, people had a lot in common with each other because they were all part of the same community. They all lived in the same area and had the same culture. They all had the same values and beliefs. Today, people have very little in common with each other. They have lost the connection to nature that they once had. They have also lost the sense of community that they once had.
In such a self-centered world, it is not surprising that people no longer care about other people. There are very few people in this world that have the power to change another person. There are also very few people that have the ability to bring people together. Even when people do try to help, they often receive little in return. People have become very selfish, and they no longer care about the welfare of others. They have also lost their sense of compassion. They do not want to help people because they no longer have any real connection to them. They would rather live in their own little world and not have to worry about other people. This is a very self-centered way of life, and it is very different from the way that people used to live.
In the past, people were more concerned with the welfare of others. They were more compassionate and caring.
In modern society, we are thus under the spell of several illusions, according to Kaszynski. One, we are under the illusion that we are autonomous individuals who own our own lives. We are not responsible for the consequences of our actions. Two, we are under the illusion that the market will take care of everything. We are not responsible for the quality of our lives. Three, we are under the illusion of individualism. We believe that we can survive and succeed alone. We believe that we can do things on our own and that we are the only ones who can solve our problems. Four, we are under the illusion that we are unique and that there is no one else out there like us. We are not aware of the fact that we are part of a community. We have lost the connection to nature that we once had. We have also lost the sense of community that we once had.
The solution, according to Kaszynski, is to restore the sense of community. He argues that we need to come together and share our resources. We need to connect with one another and share our ideas. We need to find ways to connect with nature again. We need to find ways to share our resources and our ideas with one another. We need to come together and find common ground. We need to find ways to restore the sense of community that we once had. In order to do this, we need to find ways to connect with one another.
“Those who are most sensitive about “politically incorrect” terminology are not the average black ghetto-dweller, Asian immigrant, abused woman or disabled person, but a minority of activists, many of whom do not even belong to any “oppressed” group but come from privileged strata of society.” In this quote, Kaszynski argues that it is important for activists to remember that their efforts are not alleviating the suffering of the poor or oppressed, but the suffering of those who are privileged. But he is also critical of the right, not just the left.
“The conservatives are fools: They whine about the decay of traditional values, yet they enthusiastically support technological progress and economic growth. Apparently it never occurs to them that you can’t make rapid, drastic changes in the technology and the economy of a society without causing rapid changes in all other aspects of the society as well, and that such rapid changes inevitably break down traditional values.” This idea is demonstrated by the example of the internet. It has drastically changed the way that people interact with one another. It has also changed the way that people get their information. The internet has also had a major impact on the economy. The internet has made it possible for people to start their own businesses and to sell their products and services online. But it has also disrupted many industries and traditional businesses, in addition to disruptiing the way people communicate with one another. In short, it is silly to push for progress while failing to acknowledge that it will inevitably cause many problems along the way.
“A chorus of voices exhorts kids to study science. No one stops to ask whether it is inhumane to force adolescents to spend the bulk of their time studying subjects most of them hate. When skilled workers are put out of a job by technical advances and have to undergo “retraining,” no one asks whether it is humiliating for them to be pushed around in this way. It is simply taken for granted that everyone must bow to technical necessity, and for good reason: If human needs were put before technical necessity there would be economic problems, unemployment, shortages or worse. The concept of “mental health” in our society is defined largely by the extent to which an individual behaves in accord with the needs of the system and does so without showing signs of stress.” When we think of mental health, we tend to think of a sense of well-being and happiness. Thus, we assume that if an individual is mentally healthy, they must be happy. However, this is not always the case. Mental health is not simply a state of being happy. It is also about being able to cope with the stressors of life in a healthy way. Yet, there are many people in our society that are not able to cope with the stressors of life in a healthy way. The question then is twofold: is this a problem with the stressors themselves or with the way that they are being dealt with?
We assume that it is the latter, which is why mental health system is designed to deal with the symptoms of mental illness, not the cause. And the cause is the way that our society is structured. Our economy is based on growth, which means that there will always be new technology and new industries that will disrupt the old ones. Such a changing world will cause stress on our mental health. This is okay for people of a certain age. but as Kaszynski reminds us, this is not so feasible or dignified for older people.
“There is no law that says we have to go to work every day and follow our employer’s orders. Legally there is nothing to prevent us from going to live in the wild like primitive people or from going into business for ourselves. But in practice there is very little wild country left, and there is room in the economy for only a limited number of small business owners. Hence most of us can survive only as someone else’s employee.” Most people who go to business school will have an idea, no matter how faint, that one day, they will be able to own their own business. But the reality is that very few people ever achieve this. The vast majority of people will spend their lives working for someone else. And while there is nothing wrong with this, it does mean that we are at the mercy of our employers. If they decide to downsize or move the company to another country, we have little choice but to go along with it.
“Modern leftish philosophers tend to dismiss reason, science, objective reality and to insist that everything is culturally relative. More importantly, the leftist hates science and rationality because they classify certain beliefs as true (i.e., successful, superior) and other beliefs as false (i.e., failed, inferior). The leftist’s feelings of inferiority run so deep that he cannot tolerate any classification of some things as successful or superior and other things as failed or inferior. This also underlies the rejection by many leftists of the concept of mental illness and of the utility of IQ tests. Leftists are antagonistic to genetic explanations of human abilities or behavior because such explanations tend to make some persons appear superior or inferior to others. Leftists prefer to give society the credit or blame for an individual’s ability or lack of it. Thus if a person is “inferior” it is not his fault, but society’s, because he has not been brought up properly.” This is a clear example of how leftists view the world. They believe that society is to blame for everything. This is why they are always trying to change society. They want to tear down the institutions that have been successful in the past and replace them with new ones that they think will be more successful. But as history has shown, their attempts to change society usually end in disaster. They destroy everything in their path, but their own failure. In the end, certain realities must be faced and accepted. If we accept the fact that human beings are mortal, then we must accept that some things are inevitable.
“A surrogate activity is an activity that is directed toward an artificial goal that the individual pursues for the sake of the “fulfillment” that he gets from pursuing the goal, not because he needs to attain the goal itself. For instance, there is no practical motive for building enormous muscles, hitting a little ball into a hole or acquiring a complete series of postage stamps. Yet many people in our society devote themselves with passion to bodybuilding, golf or stamp-collecting. Some people are more “other-directed” than others, and therefore will more readily attach importance to a surrogate activity simply because the people around them treat it as important or because society tells them it is important. That is why some people get very serious about essentially trivial activities such as sports, or bridge, or chess, or arcane scholarly pursuits, whereas others who are more clear-sighted never see these things as anything but the surrogate activities that they are, and consequently never attach enough importance to them to satisfy their need for the power process in that way.” This is an interesting point by Kasczynski. He’s arguing that those who get really into sports, for example, do so because they need to feel like they’re in control, just like those who get into esoteric scholarly pursuits. For the same reason, people become overly obsessed with their work, or with bodybuilding. The activity itself becomes a way for them to try to find control over their lives, just as the activity of stamp collecting becomes a way to try to feel in control. But ultimately, these are artificial goals, contrived to keep us distracted.It is as if we are constantly trying to distract ourselves from other distractions.
“There is goоd reason to believe that primitive mаn suffered from less stress and frustration and was better satisfied with his way of life than modern mаn is.” It is unquestioningly true that modern life, along with its benefits, comes with a host of stresses and frustrations. However, this does not mean that primitive man was better off than modern man.
“The degree of personal freedom that exists in a society is determined more by the economic and technological structure of the society than by its laws or its form of government. Most of the Indian nations of New England were monarchies, and many of the cities of the Italian Renaissance were controlled by dictators. But in reading about these societies one gets the impression that they allowed far more personal freedom than our society does. In part this was because they lacked efficient mechanisms for enforcing the ruler’s will: There were no modern, well-organised police forces, no rapid long-distance communications, no surveillance cameras, no dossiers of information about the lives of average citizens. Hence it was relatively easy to evade control.”
“24. (fr) Psychologists use the term “socialization” to designate the process by which children are trained to think and act as society demands. A person is said to be well socialized if he believes in and obeys the moral code of his society and fits in well as a functioning part of that society. It may seem senseless to say that many leftists are over-socialized, since the leftist is perceived as a rebel. Nevertheless, the position can be defended. 25. (fr) The moral code of our society is so demanding that no one can think, feel and act in a completely moral way. For example, we are not supposed to hate anyone, yet almost everyone hates somebody at some time or other, whether he admits it to himself or not. Some people are so highly socialized that the attempt to think, feel and act morally imposes a severe burden on them. In order to avoid feelings of guilt, they continually have to deceive themselves about their own motives and find moral explanations for feelings and actions that in reality have a nonmoral origin. We use the term “oversocialized” to describe such people. 26. (fr) Oversocialization can lead to low self-esteem, a sense of powerlessness, defeatism, guilt, etc. One of the most important means by which our society socializes children is by making them feel ashamed of behavior or speech that is contrary to society’s expectations.” Oversocialization is a term used by psychologists to describe the way that our society trains children to think and act. Children are taught to believe in and obey the moral code of their society, which can be a difficult task. Adults who suffer from oversocialization struggle to form their own unique identity, they struggle to think, feel, and act morally because they are constantly trying to avoid feelings of guilt.
“The Industrial Revolution and its consequences have been a disaster for the human race. They have greatly increased the life-expectancy of those of us 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. 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.” In Kaszynski’s view, when we weigh the pros and cons, it is clear that the development of technology is not a good thing for human beings. It has caused far more suffering than it has alleviated, and it will continue to do so as long as we rely on it.