Technology in history's driving seat

After the defeat of the Confederacy by the Union in the context of the American civil war, slavery was abolished and mankind was proud. To be fair, the Confederacy were not inherently prone to human mistreatment or exploitation- but they did favor the work of slaves over their own work in the vast southern fields. The Union on their part could be less sensitive on civil rights if their states hadn’t already progressed into industrialization in a way they didn’t need slaves anymore- machines were their new slaves. So in their case need came first and ideals came later. Or is it always so? In the ancient world, slavery was considered a natural reality. Even in ancient Greece, where unprecedented progress had been achieved in philosophy, law and civil rights, none of the great thinkers criticized slavery. Probably they did not feel like biting a feeding hand.

Closer to our times, the western world saw a series of revolutions which gave the emerging middle class voice, civil rights and political representation. These revolutions were not caused the ideas of Voltaire, Montesquieu and Russo; they were rather fanned by the coal that moved the factories of the industrial revolution. Parliamentary democracy is due to the knitting facilities of London much more than to Oliver Cromwell. Fossil energy, mechanisation, population drive to the cities, formation of the working class- these were the forces which shaped the modern world.

Social change cannot be applied by any enlightened elite, if society isn’t ready. Revolutions achieve their goals only when these are already due to happen- like dry timber a waiting for a spark. When the conditions are not ripe for change, the historic pendulum oscillates, and then retreats to its previous state- there are plenty examples.

Wars and revolutions are history’s seismic events. The causes lie beneath and move slowly, like tectonic plates. Some changes are sudden; others are gradual but the moving force is always there. The causes work silently underground, shaping our historical age.

Which is the force that pushes history ahead, drives social change and litters the fields with dead bodies? It is not ideas, I maintain. Ideas come to embellish what has already happened. The cause of change is technology.

The use of fire was the first major technological breakthrough. Heating, cooking, defense, hearth, no abstract idea could be capable of bringing such a deep social change. Next came the cultivation of land- community, division of labor, hierarchy, motherland, war. The latest development was the industrial revolution- liberty, equality, loose morals, uniformity, and elections.  

These days- we can feel it under our skin- the next change is underway. The air is thick with anticipation and fear. What is the new breakthrough brought on by the cold rail of history? It is the network. Ubiquitous yet intangible, powerful but volatile, if forms a web which already covers most of the world’s population. As the new era unfolds, the web will engulf everyone; poverty will have more to do with quality of food and space than the use of communication technology.

We don’t know if the network will evolve into a super entity with its own conscience, as the 20^th century science fiction prophets have predicted, but we already witnessed the first protests, movements and revolutions organised through it. The network can be a weapon in the hands of the unprivileged, as we saw in Cairo.

In the wake of the informatics revolution, people use unmediated information coming from all over the globe. The world population was never so interconnected, so aware about what’s happening on the whole planet. We became tired of being spectators, there is an uneasy feeling all around. Communication barriers are down, the new transformation is already happening; fasten your seatbelts.