94 lines
5.5 KiB
Plaintext
94 lines
5.5 KiB
Plaintext
[This originally appeared in *The Gentle Anarchist*, a zine published in
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Lawrence, Kansas in the mid 1980s]
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Notes toward a statement of principles
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TECHNOLOGY
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by boog highberger
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To be human is to use tools. To be antitechnology is thus at some
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level to be antihuman. Although sometimes I too, wonder if civilization is
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a good idea, this is mostly just tongue-in cheek, pseudo-intellectual
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cynicism. As long as we're living and working in the material world we need
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to accept the fact of human civilization with all its faults and come to
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grips with technology.
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Technology is not value-free. Although it would be too broad an
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assertion to say that
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technology determines social relations, the use of any technology is
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compatible with only a limited range of social relations. In a given
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society, the development of a more powerful technology than that currently
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existing does not inevitably lead to the adoption of the new technology and
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the displacement of the old. However once social conditions are favorable,
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the new technology will be adopted and it will alter its social environment
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to favor its own further development.
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The level of technological determinism is affected by the
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prevailing social and economic relations. In a traditional society with
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strong social cohesion there is a relatively low level of technological
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determinism. In a marketoriented society with a money economy there is a
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high level of technological determinism. Thus the Greeks understood the
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principles of the steam engine, but treated it as a curiosity and used it
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only to create magical effects in their temples. Watt's "invention" of the
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steam engine had a somewhat different effect on 18th century England.
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The development of the internal combustion engine has had an even
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greater impact. Mechanization of agriculture has all but eliminated the
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self-sufficient farm. The automobile has destroyed the city and the small
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community, replacing them with endless acres of suburbs filled with
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strangers alienated from their work, their environment. and each other.
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Television has effectively destroyed regional cultures. Modern
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communication and transportation systems are obviously incompatible with
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community. Like Wes Jackson says, "high energy destroys information".
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The response of Amish and Mennonite groups 20th century technology
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illustrates this point. The Amish and Mennonites are Christian sects
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characterized by strong communities and simple living. Most accept modern
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technologies but only up to seemingly arbitrary limits. Some groups, for
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instance, allow gasoline engines for powering stationary devices such as
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washing machines but not for vehicles. Some allow tractors but not cars.
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Some allow electricity in the barn but not in the house. These
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restrictions are reminiscent of religious taboos in some cultures, and seem
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to perform similar functions. These restrictions represent a refusal by
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these groups to submit to technological determination of their social
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relations. Amish and Mennonite community relations are far less mediated
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by money and commodities than those in the surrounding culture. They
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therefore retain enough community social control to set limits on their
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technology, and they have, for the most part, been able to maintain
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thriving communities while community has been eradicated all around them.
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Technology that is complex beyond the understanding of the people
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dependent on it is a threat to freedom. Such technology disenfranchises
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people by taking away from them the power to make the decisions that affect
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their lives and placing it in the hands of "experts". Autonomy and
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self-management demand a technology that is subservient to its users. If
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you depend on something, you need to know how to fix it.
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Technology that demands centralization and vast concentrations of
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capital similarly are incompatible with autonomy. Consensus and democratic
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decision-making work only in small groups. Mass organizations such as the
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modern factory demand hierarchy, coercion, and authority for their
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functioning. Many existing production technologies are capable of being
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organized in much smaller units than they are normally found today--from
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the beginning, centralized factory production was instituted not for
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economies of scale but to facilitate control of labor. However, some
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technologies. such as automobile production and nuclear power, by their
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nature demand big capital and centralized production and are thus
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inherently authoritarian.
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Environmentally destructive technologies are the social equivalent
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of spending one's capital. If you live only on interest you can do it
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forever, but if you use up your capital it's gone and there isn't any more.
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Dependence on such technology means sacrificing the well being of the
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planet and of future generations of humans for our own immediate material
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interests.
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Thus an anarchist society must be based on technology that is
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simple, decentralized, and environmentally sound. In practice, this means
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that we must change the way we live our lives to end our dependence on
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coercive & destructive technologies, and we must also organize resistance
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to such abusive technologies.
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Examples of such practical anarchy include:
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o buying more locally grown foods &
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organizing marketing co-ops for local organic producers
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oriding your bike instead of driving your car & fighting the new
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highway project
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o chopping your own firewood & fighting
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nuclear power plants
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oblowing up your TV and doing street theater
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The Luddites were right!
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