India can disconnect with mechanical civilisation in a healthy, non-disruptive way
Prasanna
Noted theatre person and writer
The root cause of most contemporary ills is our deeply entrenched consumerist culture. Automated machines spread their wings in Europe and America some two centuries ago. It took a little longer for these to enter Third World countries.
As the machines started producing bulk goods, impoverished farmers migrated to cities; poor villagers became labourers; and cities witnessed an unprecedented expansion. Along with this, capitalism took birth. None of the opposition to capitalism could provide an effective alternative to this mechanical civilisation of ours. Not only several socialist nations, but we Indians who proclaim Gandhian thoughts, have also surrendered to this unbridled mechanisation.
It is true that machines have made our work a lot easier. They have lessened distances, delayed deaths, cooled us in the scorching summer, appreciably pushed up food production and enabled us to build our homes, streets and bridges. But when technology becomes profit-oriented and a source of economic power, it morphs into something that is anti-people. For instance, machine debris is piling up at an alarming rate, and overuse of fuels has resulted in global warming – with the result that environmental pollution has crossed acceptable limits. There is no balance between rain and crop yields. So there is no way out, other than detaching ourselves from machines. We have two options: either we reject modern technology or perish along with it.
But it is also of utmost importance to detach ourselves from machinery without causing any pain to mankind, which has definitely benefited to a certain extent from the use of machines. It is our over-dependence on machines that is so worrisome: For machines aren’t attached to us, it is we who are attached to machines. So the call is entirely ours. The process of detachment should take place in our lives and not in any factory. But many among us would rather reform this mechanical culture than do without machines altogether. Yet while this reform is possible, reforming mankind is not. Machines may go away, but human greed won’t.
Two-and-a-half centuries ago the industrial revolution changed the face of the world by changing the lives of human beings.
At that time humankind had warmly welcomed mechanical civilisation. It is this civilisation that ushered in the rational revolution, the democratic system, science, socialism, women’s emancipation, literature, art and more. Machines injected great dynamism into human lives and, as a result, many positives emerged from it.
But now in the first decade of the 21st century we are seeing another transformation. Mechanical civilisation is getting old; and man, supposed to behave rationally with the support of machines, has instead become gluttonous and hedonistic. If the ‘haves’ are ruining their lives in the pursuit of wealth, the have-nots are destroying life thinking about lack of wealth.
There is a life beyond money; there are human relationships, nature and environment. But this kind of thinking is becoming increasingly rare. When mechanical civilisation arrived, it impacted differently on different people. If this civilisation brought the ‘age of enlightenment’ to the Europeans, for countries like India it opened the dark era of colonial oppression. If the Europeans, with the help of machines, enlarged their territory as well as trade, we lost what we had in the name of colonisation. In just a few decades Indians, who were leading a respectable life exporting indigenous spices and handlooms, were compelled to import textile mill cloth. Indeed it took just two decades for us to come under the subjugation of the British. As I said earlier, it is possible for us to shed our machine addiction. All we need is determination. We have to stop imitating the West. It is possible for India to disconnect with machines in a healthy, non-disruptive way. It is indeed surprising that traditional farming, rural handicrafts, small industries and desi lifestyles – all of which were marginalised with the advent of this mechanical civilisation – are still around. Though beaten, exhausted and deprived – these are still active. The traditional industries represent the real richness of our country.
Look at the contradiction: the traditional production industries which have been blamed for the slow pace of development have survived the thump of recession. The politicians who had been talking about the industrial revolution, the green revolution and global marketing are once again singing the song of ‘inclusive growth’. Capitalists plan to produce a movie on Karl Marx’s “Das Kapital”! And western countries are chanting Gandhian thoughts. India had no role in fixing machines or laying the edifice of modern science; but it is uniquely placed to lead the ‘machine detachment movement’.
Noted theatre person and writer
The root cause of most contemporary ills is our deeply entrenched consumerist culture. Automated machines spread their wings in Europe and America some two centuries ago. It took a little longer for these to enter Third World countries.
As the machines started producing bulk goods, impoverished farmers migrated to cities; poor villagers became labourers; and cities witnessed an unprecedented expansion. Along with this, capitalism took birth. None of the opposition to capitalism could provide an effective alternative to this mechanical civilisation of ours. Not only several socialist nations, but we Indians who proclaim Gandhian thoughts, have also surrendered to this unbridled mechanisation.
It is true that machines have made our work a lot easier. They have lessened distances, delayed deaths, cooled us in the scorching summer, appreciably pushed up food production and enabled us to build our homes, streets and bridges. But when technology becomes profit-oriented and a source of economic power, it morphs into something that is anti-people. For instance, machine debris is piling up at an alarming rate, and overuse of fuels has resulted in global warming – with the result that environmental pollution has crossed acceptable limits. There is no balance between rain and crop yields. So there is no way out, other than detaching ourselves from machines. We have two options: either we reject modern technology or perish along with it.
But it is also of utmost importance to detach ourselves from machinery without causing any pain to mankind, which has definitely benefited to a certain extent from the use of machines. It is our over-dependence on machines that is so worrisome: For machines aren’t attached to us, it is we who are attached to machines. So the call is entirely ours. The process of detachment should take place in our lives and not in any factory. But many among us would rather reform this mechanical culture than do without machines altogether. Yet while this reform is possible, reforming mankind is not. Machines may go away, but human greed won’t.
Two-and-a-half centuries ago the industrial revolution changed the face of the world by changing the lives of human beings.
At that time humankind had warmly welcomed mechanical civilisation. It is this civilisation that ushered in the rational revolution, the democratic system, science, socialism, women’s emancipation, literature, art and more. Machines injected great dynamism into human lives and, as a result, many positives emerged from it.
But now in the first decade of the 21st century we are seeing another transformation. Mechanical civilisation is getting old; and man, supposed to behave rationally with the support of machines, has instead become gluttonous and hedonistic. If the ‘haves’ are ruining their lives in the pursuit of wealth, the have-nots are destroying life thinking about lack of wealth.
There is a life beyond money; there are human relationships, nature and environment. But this kind of thinking is becoming increasingly rare. When mechanical civilisation arrived, it impacted differently on different people. If this civilisation brought the ‘age of enlightenment’ to the Europeans, for countries like India it opened the dark era of colonial oppression. If the Europeans, with the help of machines, enlarged their territory as well as trade, we lost what we had in the name of colonisation. In just a few decades Indians, who were leading a respectable life exporting indigenous spices and handlooms, were compelled to import textile mill cloth. Indeed it took just two decades for us to come under the subjugation of the British. As I said earlier, it is possible for us to shed our machine addiction. All we need is determination. We have to stop imitating the West. It is possible for India to disconnect with machines in a healthy, non-disruptive way. It is indeed surprising that traditional farming, rural handicrafts, small industries and desi lifestyles – all of which were marginalised with the advent of this mechanical civilisation – are still around. Though beaten, exhausted and deprived – these are still active. The traditional industries represent the real richness of our country.
Look at the contradiction: the traditional production industries which have been blamed for the slow pace of development have survived the thump of recession. The politicians who had been talking about the industrial revolution, the green revolution and global marketing are once again singing the song of ‘inclusive growth’. Capitalists plan to produce a movie on Karl Marx’s “Das Kapital”! And western countries are chanting Gandhian thoughts. India had no role in fixing machines or laying the edifice of modern science; but it is uniquely placed to lead the ‘machine detachment movement’.
Source : IIPM Editorial, 2008
