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Post by Skribbblie on May 1, 2010 0:09:19 GMT -5
Today's civilization is a massive global community of trade and commerce. But how did we get here? Industry. Industry was the driving force behind our civilization. But how can something that brought so much pain bring so much good? And is that good really good? Take India for example. Britain invaded India and kept it under their laws and taxes for many years. In that time India suffered greatly from the destruction of their religion and the starving of their people. Why were they starving? Britain's insatiable need for industry made it so that Indians could only grow cotton, tobacco, etc. And take Africa as another example. Same thing there. Enslavement of Africans was brought on by industry. But in the interest of not killing the argument in this topic, I rest my case.
Industry: As I see it, evil.
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Post by General Veers on May 1, 2010 14:19:34 GMT -5
Alright, you aren't bashing industry, you are bashing imperialism. The title of the thread is more appropriately named "Imperialism: Good or Bad?"
Industry is the collaboration of multiple individuals for the standardization of production or services, although I likely did injustice to the dictionary definition. When Great Britain went from individual cottages producing their own small textiles whenever they wanted/needed to several people collaborating to output a continuous stream of standardized textiles under a regulated schedule in a single setting for standardized wages, that was industrialization.
Do you mean to argue against Imperialism, or do you mean to argue against industry?
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Post by Skribbblie on May 2, 2010 14:55:31 GMT -5
A little of both. But think about the conditions that industrialized nation was under. The great majority of people lived in horrible conditions, the cities' walls were blackened with soot, and there was no regulation of wages, so you would be paid very little for a lot of work.
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Post by xShadowLordx on May 2, 2010 23:30:37 GMT -5
Well, the bad conditions weren't necessarily the result of industry. That stuff was just because of poor societal planning. Either way, industry has done a LOT more good than harm.
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Post by General Veers on May 3, 2010 14:21:29 GMT -5
Well, the good/harm argument will vary with position (i.e. are you a consumer, an assembly line worker, or CEO of Ford?).
Industry standardized production and processing of goods and services. In order to standardize products and produce them in a continuous, unwavering stream, many facets of production had to be standardized. Schedules had to be standardized. Jobs had to be meted to those who could effectively act in that job (in contrast to mediocre Jacks-of-all-trades). Materials had to be standardized. Work rooms had to be standardized. Wages had to be standardized. Everything that had anything to do with the business had to be standardized so that the same quality of product would be made every time. With the coming of the Progressives in America, even safety measures became standardized in industries.
Mass availability of goods were nice for consumers. If an industry had several competing members, consumers especially praised the competition for the lower prices that would result.
Strict schedules, tight wages, and various other things (not to mention the originally horrific lack of safety) did not go well with the workers who otherwise would have been out of work.
That is most definitely not an Advanced Placement European History free response question on the Industrial Age, but it should serve the general purpose here...
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