diff -r 000000000000 -r 72b543305e3a email/pop3andsmtpmtm/smtpservermtm/test/data/imsk25.out --- /dev/null Thu Jan 01 00:00:00 1970 +0000 +++ b/email/pop3andsmtpmtm/smtpservermtm/test/data/imsk25.out Thu Dec 17 08:44:11 2009 +0200 @@ -0,0 +1,4966 @@ +EHLO [] +RSET +MAIL FROM: +RCPT TO: +RCPT TO: +RCPT TO: +DATA +From: "SMTP Test1" +Reply-to: "SMTP Test1" +To: recyclebin@lon-msgtest06.intra +Cc: recyclebin@lon-msgtest06.intra, recyclebin@lon-msgtest06.intra +Subject: Test message No.9 +Date: date-replacement-string- +Message-ID: +X-Mailer: EPOC Email Version 2.10 +MIME-Version: 1.0 +Content-Language: i-default +Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 +Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable + +This msg should be sent 4 times=20 + -Send one msg to 'To' & 'Cc' recipients. In this case 'Bcc' recipients = + + should not appear in the msg header. + + -Send one Msg per 'Bcc' recipient, in each msg the header will show all = +the 'To' & 'Cc' + recipients. 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All 'Bcc' recipients should not appear in the header except = +the one to=20 + whom the mail is addressed to. + + +End of message. + + +. +RSET +MAIL FROM: +RCPT TO: +DATA +From: "SMTP Test1" +Reply-to: "SMTP Test1" +To: recyclebin@lon-msgtest06.intra +Cc: recyclebin@lon-msgtest06.intra, recyclebin@lon-msgtest06.intra +Bcc: recyclebin@lon-msgtest06.intra +Subject: Test message No.9 +Date: date-replacement-string- +Message-ID: +X-Mailer: EPOC Email Version 2.10 +MIME-Version: 1.0 +Content-Language: i-default +Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 +Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable + +This msg should be sent 4 times=20 + -Send one msg to 'To' & 'Cc' recipients. In this case 'Bcc' recipients = + + should not appear in the msg header. + + -Send one Msg per 'Bcc' recipient, in each msg the header will show all = +the 'To' & 'Cc' + recipients. All 'Bcc' recipients should not appear in the header except = +the one to=20 + whom the mail is addressed to. + + +End of message. + + +. +RSET +MAIL FROM: +RCPT TO: +DATA +From: "SMTP Test1" +Reply-to: "SMTP Test1" +To: +Subject: Test message No.8 - Long message (206KB) +Date: date-replacement-string- +Message-ID: +X-Mailer: EPOC Email Version 2.10 +MIME-Version: 1.0 +Content-Language: i-default +Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 +Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable + +INTRODUCTION + +1. The Industrial Revolution and its consequences have been a disaster for = +the human race. They have=20 +greatly increased the life-expectancy of those of us who live in "advanced" = +countries, but they have=20 +destabilized society, have made life unfulfilling, have subjected human = +beings to indignities, have led to=20 +widespread psychological suffering (in the Third World to physical = +suffering as well) and have inflicted=20 +severe damage on the natural world. The continued development of technology = +will worsen the situation. It=20 +will certainly subject human beings to greater indignities and inflict = +greater damage on the natural world, it=20 +will probably lead to greater social disruption and psychological = +suffering, and it may lead to increased=20 +physical suffering even in "advanced" countries.=20 + +2. The industrial-technological system may survive or it may break down. If = +it survives, it MAY eventually=20 +achieve a low level of physical and psychological suffering, but only after = +passing through a long and very=20 +painful period of adjustment and only at the cost of permanently reducing = +human beings and many other=20 +living organisms to engineered products and mere cogs in the social = +machine. Furthermore, if the system=20 +survives, the consequences will be inevitable: There is no way of reforming = +or modifying the system so as=20 +to prevent it from depriving people of dignity and autonomy.=20 + +3. If the system breaks down the consequences will still be very painful. = +But the bigger the system grows=20 +the more disastrous the results of its breakdown will be, so if it is to = +break down it had best break down=20 +sooner rather than later.=20 + +4. We therefore advocate a revolution against the industrial system. This = +revolution may or may not make=20 +use of violence: it may be sudden or it may be a relatively gradual process = +spanning a few decades. We=20 +can't predict any of that. But we do outline in a very general way the = +measures that those who hate the=20 +industrial system should take in order to prepare the way for a revolution = +against that form of society. This=20 +is not to be a POLITICAL revolution. Its object will be to overthrow not = +governments but the economic=20 +and technological basis of the present society.=20 + +5. In this article we give attention to only some of the negative = +developments that have grown out of the=20 +industrial-technological system. Other such developments we mention only = +briefly or ignore altogether.=20 +This does not mean that we regard these other developments as unimportant. = +For practical reasons we have=20 +to confine our discussion to areas that have received insufficient public = +attention or in which we have=20 +something new to say. For example, since there are well-developed = +environmental and wilderness=20 +movements, we have written very little about environmental degradation or = +the destruction of wild nature,=20 +even though we consider these to be highly important.=20 + +THE PSYCHOLOGY OF MODERN LEFTISM + +6. Almost everyone will agree that we live in a deeply troubled society. = +One of the most widespread=20 +manifestations of the craziness of our world is leftism, so a discussion of = +the psychology of leftism can=20 +serve as an introduction to the discussion of the problems of modern = +society in general.=20 + +7. But what is leftism? During the first half of the 20th century leftism = +could have been practically=20 +identified with socialism. Today the movement is fragmented and it is not = +clear who can properly be called=20 +a leftist. When we speak of leftists in this article we have in mind mainly = +socialists, collectivists,=20 +"politically correct" types, feminists, gay and disability activists, = +animal rights activists and the like. But=20 +not everyone who is associated with one of these movements is a leftist. = +What we are trying to get at in=20 +discussing leftism is not so much a movement or an ideology as a = +psychological type, or rather a collection=20 +of related types. Thus, what we mean by "leftism" will emerge more clearly = +in the course of our discussion=20 +of leftist psychology (Also, see paragraphs 227-230.)=20 + +8. Even so, our conception of leftism will remain a good deal less clear = +than we would wish, but there=20 +doesn't seem to be any remedy for this. All we are trying to do is indicate = +in a rough and approximate way=20 +the two psychological tendencies that we believe are the main driving force = +of modern leftism. We by no=20 +means claim to be telling the WHOLE truth about leftist psychology. Also, = +our discussion is meant to=20 +apply to modern leftism only. We leave open the question of the extent to = +which our discussion could be=20 +applied to the leftists of the 19th and early 20th century.=20 + +9. The two psychological tendencies that underlie modern leftism we call = +"feelings of inferiority" and=20 +"oversocialization." Feelings of inferiority are characteristic of modern = +leftism as a whole, while=20 +oversocialization is characteristic only of a certain segment of modern = +leftism; but this segment is highly=20 +influential.=20 + +FEELINGS OF INFERIORITY + +10. By "feelings of inferiority" we mean not only inferiority feelings in = +the strictest sense but a whole=20 +spectrum of related traits: low self-esteem, feelings of powerlessness, = +depressive tendencies, defeatism,=20 +guilt, self-hatred, etc. We argue that modern leftists tend to have such = +feelings (possibly more or less=20 +repressed) and that these feelings are decisive in determining the = +direction of modern leftism.=20 + +11. When someone interprets as derogatory almost anything that is said = +about him (or about groups with=20 +whom he identifies) we conclude that he has inferiority feelings or low = +self-esteem. This tendency is=20 +pronounced among minority rights advocates, whether or not they belong to = +the minority groups whose=20 +rights they defend. They are hypersensitive about the words used to = +designate minorities. The terms=20 +"negro," "oriental," "handicapped" or "chick" for an African, an Asian, a = +disabled person or a woman=20 +originally had no derogatory connotation. "Broad" and "chick" were merely = +the feminine equivalents of=20 +"guy," "dude" or "fellow." The negative connotations have been attached to = +these terms by the activists=20 +themselves. Some animal rights advocates have gone so far as to reject the = +word "pet" and=20 +insist on its replacement by "animal companion." Leftist anthropologists go = +to great lengths to avoid saying=20 +anything about primitive peoples that could conceivably be interpreted as = +negative. They want to replace=20 +the word "primitive" by "nonliterate." They seem almost paranoid about = +anything that might suggest that=20 +any primitive culture is inferior to our own. (We do not mean to imply that = +primitive cultures ARE inferior=20 +to ours. We merely point out the hypersensitivity of leftish = +anthropologists.)=20 + +12. Those who are most sensitive about "politically incorrect" terminology = +are not the average black=20 +ghetto-dweller, Asian immigrant, abused woman or disabled person, but a = +minority of activists, many of=20 +whom do not even belong to any "oppressed" group but come from privileged = +strata of society. Political=20 +correctness has its stronghold among university professors, who have secure = +employment with comfortable=20 +salaries, and the majority of whom are heterosexual, white males from = +middle-class families.=20 + +13. Many leftists have an intense identification with the problems of = +groups that have an image of being=20 +weak (women), defeated (American Indians), repellent (homosexuals), or = +otherwise inferior. The leftists=20 +themselves feel that these groups are inferior. They would never admit it = +to themselves that they have such=20 +feelings, but it is precisely because they do see these groups as inferior = +that they identify with their=20 +problems. (We do not suggest that women, Indians, etc., ARE inferior; we = +are only making a point about=20 +leftist psychology).=20 + +14. Feminists are desperately anxious to prove that women are as strong as = +capable as men. Clearly they=20 +are nagged by a fear that women may NOT be as strong and as capable as men. = + + +15. Leftists tend to hate anything that has an image of being strong, good = +and successful. They hate=20 +America, they hate Western civilization, they hate white males, they hate = +rationality. The reasons that=20 +leftists give for hating the West, etc. clearly do not correspond with = +their real motives. They SAY they hate=20 +the West because it is warlike, imperialistic, sexist, ethnocentric and so = +forth, but where these same faults=20 +appear in socialist countries or in primitive cultures, the leftist finds = +excuses for them, or at best he=20 +GRUDGINGLY admits that they exist; whereas he ENTHUSIASTICALLY points out = +(and often greatly=20 +exaggerates) these faults where they appear in Western civilization. Thus = +it is clear that these faults are not=20 +the leftist's real motive for hating America and the West. + He hates America and the West because they are strong and successful. = + + +16. Words like "self-confidence," "self-reliance," "initiative", = +"enterprise," "optimism," etc. play little role=20 +in the liberal and leftist vocabulary. The leftist is anti-individualistic, = +pro-collectivist. He wants society to=20 +solve everyone's needs for them, take care of them. He is not the sort of = +person who has an inner sense of=20 +confidence in his own ability to solve his own problems and satisfy his own = +needs. The leftist is=20 +antagonistic to the concept of competition because, deep inside, he feels = +like a loser.=20 + +17. Art forms that appeal to modern leftist intellectuals tend to focus on = +sordidness, defeat and despair, or=20 +else they take an orgiastic tone, throwing off rational control as if there = +were no hope of accomplishing=20 +anything through rational calculation and all that was left was to immerse = +oneself in the sensations of the=20 +moment.=20 + +18. Modern leftist philosophers tend to dismiss reason, science, objective = +reality and to insist that=20 +everything is culturally relative. It is true that one can ask serious = +questions about the foundations of=20 +scientific knowledge and about how, if at all, the concept of objective = +reality can be defined. But it is=20 +obvious that modern leftist philosophers are not simply cool-headed = +logicians systematically analyzing the=20 +foundations of knowledge. They are deeply involved emotionally in their = +attack on truth and reality. They=20 +attack these concepts because of their own psychological needs. For one = +thing, their attack is an outlet for=20 +hostility, and, to the extent that it is successful, it satisfies the drive = +for power. More importantly, the leftist=20 +hates science and rationality because=20 +they classify certain beliefs as true (i.e., successful, superior) and = +other beliefs as false (i.e. failed, inferior).=20 +The leftist's feelings of inferiority run so deep that he cannot tolerate = +any classification of some things as=20 +successful or superior and other things as failed or inferior. This also = +underlies the rejection by many=20 +leftists of the concept of mental illness and of the utility of IQ tests. = +Leftists are antagonistic to genetic=20 +explanations of human abilities or behavior because such explanations tend = +to make some persons appear=20 +superior or inferior to others. Leftists prefer to give society the credit = +or blame for an individual's ability or=20 +lack of it. Thus if a person is "inferior" it is not his fault, but = +society's, because he has not been brought up=20 +properly.=20 + +19. The leftist is not typically the kind of person whose feelings of = +inferiority make him a braggart, an=20 +egotist, a bully, a self-promoter, a ruthless competitor. This kind of = +person has not wholly lost faith in=20 +himself. He has a deficit in his sense of power and self-worth, but he can = +still conceive of himself as having=20 +the capacity to be strong, and his efforts to make himself strong produce = +his unpleasant behavior. [1] But=20 +the leftist is too far gone for that. His feelings of inferiority are so = +ingrained that he cannot conceive of=20 +himself as individually strong and valuable. Hence the collectivism of the = +leftist. He can feel strong only as=20 +a member of a large organization or a mass movement with which he = +identifies himself.=20 + +20. Notice the masochistic tendency of leftist tactics. Leftists protest by = +lying down in front of vehicles,=20 +they intentionally provoke police or racists to abuse them, etc. These = +tactics may often be effective, but=20 +many leftists use them not as a means to an end but because they PREFER = +masochistic tactics. Self-hatred=20 +is a leftist trait.=20 + +21. Leftists may claim that their activism is motivated by compassion or by = +moral principle, and moral=20 +principle does play a role for the leftist of the oversocialized type. But = +compassion and moral principle=20 +cannot be the main motives for leftist activism. Hostility is too prominent = +a component of leftist behavior;=20 +so is the drive for power. Moreover, much leftist behavior is not = +rationally calculated to be of benefit to the=20 +people whom the leftists claim to be trying to help. For example, if one = +believes that affirmative action is=20 +good for black people, does it make sense to demand affirmative action in = +hostile or dogmatic terms?=20 +Obviously it would be more productive to take a diplomatic and conciliatory = +approach that would make at=20 +least verbal and symbolic concessions to white people who think that = + +affirmative action discriminates against them. But leftist activists do not = +take such an approach because it=20 +would not satisfy their emotional needs. Helping black people is not their = +real goal. Instead, race problems=20 +serve as an excuse for them to express their own hostility and frustrated = +need for power. In doing so they=20 +actually harm black people, because the activists' hostile attitude toward = +the white majority tends to=20 +intensify race hatred.=20 + +22. If our society had no social problems at all, the leftists would have = +to INVENT problems in order to=20 +provide themselves with an excuse for making a fuss.=20 + +23. We emphasize that the foregoing does not pretend to be an accurate = +description of everyone who might=20 +be considered a leftist. It is only a rough indication of a general = +tendency of leftism.=20 + +OVERSOCIALIZATION + +24. Psychologists use the term "socialization" to designate the process by = +which children are trained to=20 +think and act as society demands. A person is said to be well socialized if = +he believes in and obeys the=20 +moral code of his society and fits in well as a functioning part of that = +society. It may seem senseless to say=20 +that many leftists are over-socialized, since the leftist is perceived as a = +rebel. Nevertheless, the position can=20 +be defended. Many leftists are not such rebels as they seem.=20 + +25. The moral code of our society is so demanding that no one can think, = +feel and act in a completely moral=20 +way. For example, we are not supposed to hate anyone, yet almost everyone = +hates somebody at some time=20 +or other, whether he admits it to himself or not. Some people are so highly = +socialized that the attempt to=20 +think, feel and act morally imposes a severe burden on them. In order to = +avoid feelings of guilt, they=20 +continually have to deceive themselves about their own motives and find = +moral explanations for feelings=20 +and actions that in reality have a non-moral origin. We use the term = +"oversocialized" to describe such=20 +people. [2]=20 + +26. Oversocialization can lead to low self-esteem, a sense of = +powerlessness, defeatism, guilt, etc. One of=20 +the most important means by which our society socializes children is by = +making them feel ashamed of=20 +behavior or speech that is contrary to society's expectations. If this is = +overdone, or if a particular child is=20 +especially susceptible to such feelings, he ends by feeling ashamed of = +HIMSELF. Moreover the thought=20 +and the behavior of the oversocialized person are more restricted by = +society's expectations than are those of=20 +the lightly socialized person. The majority of people engage in a = +significant amount of naughty behavior.=20 +They lie, they commit petty thefts, they break traffic laws, they goof off = +at work, they hate someone, they=20 +say spiteful things or they use some underhanded trick to get ahead of the = + +other guy. The oversocialized person cannot do these things, or if he does = +do them he generates in himself=20 +a sense of shame and self-hatred. The oversocialized person cannot even = +experience, without guilt,=20 +thoughts or feelings that are contrary to the accepted morality; he cannot = +think "unclean" thoughts. And=20 +socialization is not just a matter of morality; we are socialized to = +confirm to many norms of behavior that=20 +do not fall under the heading of morality. Thus the oversocialized person = +is kept on a psychological leash=20 +and spends his life running on rails that society has laid down for him. In = +many oversocialized people this=20 +results in a sense of constraint and powerlessness that can be a severe = +hardship. We suggest that=20 +oversocialization is among the more serious cruelties that human beings = +inflict on one another.=20 + +27. We argue that a very important and influential segment of the modern = +left is oversocialized and that=20 +their oversocialization is of great importance in determining the direction = +of modern leftism. Leftists of the=20 +oversocialized type tend to be intellectuals or members of the upper-middle = +class. Notice that university=20 +intellectuals (3) constitute the most highly socialized segment of our = +society and also the most left-wing=20 +segment.=20 + +28. The leftist of the oversocialized type tries to get off his = +psychological leash and assert his autonomy by=20 +rebelling. But usually he is not strong enough to rebel against the most = +basic values of society. Generally=20 +speaking, the goals of today's leftists are NOT in conflict with the = +accepted morality. On the contrary, the=20 +left takes an accepted moral principle, adopts it as its own, and then = +accuses mainstream society of=20 +violating that principle. Examples: racial equality, equality of the sexes, = +helping poor people, peace as=20 +opposed to war, nonviolence generally, freedom of expression, kindness to = +animals. More fundamentally,=20 +the duty of the individual to serve society and the duty of society to take = +care of the individual. All these=20 +have been deeply rooted values of our society (or at least of its middle = +and=20 +upper classes (4) for a long time. These values are explicitly or = +implicitly expressed or presupposed in most=20 +of the material presented to us by the mainstream communications media and = +the educational system.=20 +Leftists, especially those of the oversocialized type, usually do not rebel = +against these principles but justify=20 +their hostility to society by claiming (with some degree of truth) that = +society is not living up to these=20 +principles.=20 + +29. Here is an illustration of the way in which the oversocialized leftist = +shows his real attachment to the=20 +conventional attitudes of our society while pretending to be in rebellion = +against it. Many leftists push for=20 +affirmative action, for moving black people into high-prestige jobs, for = +improved education in black=20 +schools and more money for such schools; the way of life of the black = +"underclass" they regard as a social=20 +disgrace. They want to integrate the black man into the system, make him a = +business executive, a lawyer, a=20 +scientist just like upper-middle-class white people. The leftists will = +reply that the last thing they want is to=20 +make the black man into a copy of the white man; instead, they want to = +preserve African American culture.=20 +But in what does this preservation of African American culture consist? = + +It can hardly consist in anything more than eating black-style food, = +listening to black-style music, wearing=20 +black-style clothing and going to a black-style church or mosque. In other = +words, it can express itself only=20 +in superficial matters. In all ESSENTIAL respects more leftists of the = +oversocialized type want to make the=20 +black man conform to white, middle-class ideals. They want to make him = +study technical subjects, become=20 +an executive or a scientist, spend his life climbing the status ladder to = +prove that black people are as good=20 +as white. They want to make black fathers "responsible." they want black = +gangs to become nonviolent, etc.=20 +But these are exactly the values of the industrial-technological system. = +The system couldn't care less what=20 +kind of music a man listens to, what kind of clothes he wears or what = + +religion he believes in as long as he studies in school, holds a = +respectable job, climbs the status ladder, is a=20 +"responsible" parent, is nonviolent and so forth. In effect, however much = +he may deny it, the oversocialized=20 +leftist wants to integrate the black man into the system and make him adopt = +its values.=20 + +30. We certainly do not claim that leftists, even of the oversocialized = +type, NEVER rebel against the=20 +fundamental values of our society. Clearly they sometimes do. Some = +oversocialized leftists have gone so=20 +far as to rebel against one of modern society's most important principles = +by engaging in physical violence.=20 +By their own account, violence is for them a form of "liberation." In other = +words, by committing violence=20 +they break through the psychological restraints that have been trained into = +them. Because they are=20 +oversocialized these restraints have been more confining for them than for = +others; hence their need to break=20 +free of them. But they usually justify their rebellion in terms of = +mainstream values. If they engage in=20 +violence they claim to be fighting against racism or the like.=20 + +31. We realize that many objections could be raised to the foregoing = +thumb-nail sketch of leftist=20 +psychology. The real situation is complex, and anything like a complete = +description of it would take=20 +several volumes even if the necessary data were available. We claim only to = +have indicated very roughly=20 +the two most important tendencies in the psychology of modern leftism. = + + +32. The problems of the leftist are indicative of the problems of our = +society as a whole. Low self-esteem,=20 +depressive tendencies and defeatism are not restricted to the left. Though = +they are especially noticeable in=20 +the left, they are widespread in our society. And today's society tries to = +socialize us to a greater extent than=20 +any previous society. We are even told by experts how to eat, how to = +exercise, how to make love, how to=20 +raise our kids and so forth.=20 + +THE POWER PROCESS + +33. Human beings have a need (probably based in biology) for something that = +we will call the "power=20 +process." This is closely related to the need for power (which is widely = +recognized) but is not quite the=20 +same thing. The power process has four elem ents. The three most clear-cut = +of these we call goal, effort=20 +and attainment of goal. (Everyone needs to have goals whose attainment = +requires effort, and needs to=20 +succeed in attaining at least some of his goals.) The fourth element is = +more difficult to define and may not=20 +be necessary for everyone . We call it autonomy and will discuss it l ater = +(paragraphs 42-44).=20 + +34. Consider the hypothetical case of a man who can have anything he wants = +just by wishing for it. Such a=20 +man has power, but he will develop serious psychological problems. At first = +he will have a lot of fun, but=20 +by and by he will become acutely bor ed and demoralized. Eventually he may = +becom e clinically=20 +depressed. History shows that leisured aristocracies tend to become = +decadent. This is not true of fighting=20 +aristocracies that have to struggle to maintain their power. But leisured, = +secure aristocracies that have no=20 +need to exert themselve s usually become bored, hedonistic and demor = +alized, even though they have=20 +power. This shows that power is not enough. One must have goals toward = +which to exercise one's power.=20 + +35. Everyone has goals; if nothing else, to obtain the physical necessities = +of life: food, water and whatever=20 +clothing and shelter are made necessary by the climate. But the leisured = +aristocrat obtains these things=20 +without effort. Hence his boredom and demoralization.=20 + +36. Nonattainment of important goals results in death if the goals are = +physical necessities, and in frustration=20 +if nonattainment of the goals is compatible with survival. Consistent = +failure to attain goals throughout life=20 +results in defeatism, low se lf-esteem or depression.=20 + +37. Thus, in order to avoid serious psychological problems, a human being = +needs goals whose attainment=20 +requires effort, and he must have a reasonable rate of success in attaining = +his goals.=20 + +SURROGATE ACTIVITIES + +38. But not every leisured aristocrat becomes bored and demoralized. For = +example, the emperor Hirohito,=20 +instead of sinking into decadent hedonism, devoted himself to marine = +biology, a field in which he became=20 +distinguished. When people do not have t o exert themselves to satisfy = +their physical needs they often set=20 +up artificial goals for themselves. In many cases they then pursue these = +goals with the same energy and=20 +emotional involvement that they otherwise would have put into the search = +for physical necessities. Thus the=20 +aristocrats of the Roman Empire had their literary pretentions; many = +European aristocrats a few centuries=20 +ago invested tremendous time and energy in hunting, though they certainly = +didn't need the meat; other=20 +aristocracies have competed for status through elaborate displays of = +wealth;=20 +and a few aristocrats, like Hiroh ito, have turned to science.=20 + +39. We use the term "surrogate activity" to designate an activity that is = +directed toward an artificial goal=20 +that people set up for themselves merely in order to have some goal to work = +toward, or let us say, merely=20 +for the sake of the "fulfillment" th at they get from pursuing the goal. = +Here is a rule of thumb for the=20 +identification of surrogate activities. Given a person who devotes much = +time and energy to the pursuit of=20 +goal X, ask yourself this: If he had to devote most of his time and energy = +to satisfying his biological needs,=20 +and if that effort required him to use his physical and mental facilities = +in a varied and interesting way,=20 +would he feel seriously deprived because he did not attain goal X? If the = +answer is no, then the person's=20 +pursuit of a goal X is a surrogate activity. Hirohito's studies=20 +in marine biology clearly constituted a surrogate activity, since it is = +pretty certain that if Hirohito had had=20 +to spend his time working at interesting non-scientific tasks in order to = +obtain the necessities of life, he=20 +would not have felt deprived because he didn't know all about the anatomy = +and life-cycles of marine=20 +animals. On the other hand the pursuit of sex and love (for example) is not = +a surrogate activity, because=20 +most people, even if their existence were otherwise satisfactory, would = +feel deprived if they passed their=20 +lives without ever having a relationship with a member of the opposite sex. = +(But pursuit of an excessive=20 +amount of sex, more than one really needs, can be a surrogate activity.) = + + +40. In modern industrial society only minimal effort is necessary to = +satisfy one's physical needs. It is=20 +enough to go through a training program to acquire some petty technical = +skill, then come to work on time=20 +and exert very modest effort needed to hold a job. The only requirements = +are a moderate amount of=20 +intelligence, and most of all, simple OBEDIENCE. If one has those, society = +takes care of one from cradle=20 +to grave. (Yes, there is an underclass that cannot take physical = +necessities for granted, but we are speaking=20 +here of mainstream society.) Thus it is not surprising that modern society = +is full of surrogate activities.=20 +These include scientific work, athletic achievement, humanitarian work, = +artistic and literary creation,=20 +climbing the corporate ladder, acquisition of money and material goods far = + +beyond the point at which they cease to give any additional physical = +satisfaction, and social activism when=20 +it addresses issues that are not important for the activist personally, as = +in the case of white activists who=20 +work for the rights of nonwhite minorities. These are not always pure = +surrogate activities, since for many=20 +people they may be motivated in part by needs other than the need to have = +some goal to pursue. Scientific=20 +work may be motivated in part by a drive for prestige, artistic creation by = +a need to express feelings,=20 +militant social activism by hostility. But for most people who pursue them, = +these activities are in large part=20 +surrogate activities. For example, the majority of scientists will probably = +agree that the "fulfillment" they=20 +get from their work is more important than the money and prestige they = +earn.=20 + +41. For many if not most people, surrogate activities are less satisfying = +than the pursuit of real goals ( that=20 +is, goals that people would want to attain even if their need for the power = +process were already fulfilled).=20 +One indication of this is the fact that, in many or most cases, people who = +are deeply involved in surrogate=20 +activities are never satisfied, never at rest. Thus the money-maker = +constantly strives for more and more=20 +wealth. The scientist no sooner solves one problem than he moves on to the = +next. The long-distance runner=20 +drives himself to run always farther and faster. Many people who pursue = +surrogate activities will say that=20 +they get far more fulfillment from these activities than they do from the = +"mundane" business of satisfying=20 +their biological needs, but that it is because in our society the effort = + +needed to satisfy the biological needs has been reduced to triviality. More = +importantly, in our society=20 +people do not satisfy their biological needs AUTONOMOUSLY but by = +functioning as parts of an immense=20 +social machine. In contrast, people generally have a great deal of autonomy = +in pursuing their surrogate=20 +activities. have a great deal of autonomy in pursuing their surrogate = +activities.=20 + +AUTONOMY + +42. Autonomy as a part of the power process may not be necessary for every = +individual. But most people=20 +need a greater or lesser degree of autonomy in working toward their goals. = +Their efforts must be=20 +undertaken on their own initiative and must be under their own direction = +and control. Yet most people do=20 +not have to exert this initiative, direction and control as single = +individuals. It is usually enough to act as a=20 +member of a SMALL group. Thus if half a dozen people discuss a goal among = +themselves and make a=20 +successful joint effort to attain that goal, their need for the power = +process will be served. But if they work=20 +under rigid orders handed down from above that leave them no room for = +autonomous decision and=20 +initiative, then their need for the power process will not be served. = + +The same is true when decisions are made on a collective bases if the group = +making the collective decision=20 +is so large that the role of each individual is insignificant [5]=20 + +43. It is true that some individuals seem to have little need for autonomy. = +Either their drive for power is=20 +weak or they satisfy it by identifying themselves with some powerful = +organization to which they belong.=20 +And then there are unthinking, animal types who seem to be satisfied with a = +purely physical sense of=20 +power(the good combat soldier, who gets his sense of power by developing = +fighting skills that he is quite=20 +content to use in blind obedience to his superiors).=20 + +44. But for most people it is through the power process-having a goal, = +making an AUTONOMOUS effort=20 +and attaining t the goal-that self-esteem, self-confidence and a sense of = +power are acquired. When one does=20 +not have adequate opportunity to go throughout the power process the = +consequences are (depending on the=20 +individual and on the way the power process is disrupted) boredom, = +demoralization, low self-esteem,=20 +inferiority feelings, defeatism, depression, anxiety, guilt, frustration, = +hostility, spouse or child abuse,=20 +insatiable hedonism, abnormal sexual behavior, sleep disorders, eating = +disorders, etc. [6]=20 + +SOURCES OF SOCIAL PROBLEMS + +45. Any of the foregoing symptoms can occur in any society, but in modern = +industrial society they are=20 +present on a massive scale. We aren't the first to mention that the world = +today seems to be going crazy.=20 +This sort of thing is not normal for human societies. There is good reason = +to believe that primitive man=20 +suffered from less stress and frustration and was better satisfied with his = +way of life than modern man is. It=20 +is true that not all was sweetness and light in primitive societies. Abuse = +of women and common among the=20 +Australian aborigines, transexuality was fairly common among some of the = +American Indian tribes. But is=20 +does appear that GENERALLY SPEAKING the kinds of problems that we have = +listed in the preceding=20 +paragraph were far less common among primitive peoples than they are in = +modern society.=20 + +46. We attribute the social and psychological problems of modern society to = +the fact that that society=20 +requires people to live under conditions radically different from those = +under which the human race evolved=20 +and to behave in ways that conflict with the patterns of behavior that the = +human race developed while=20 +living under the earlier conditions. It is clear from what we have already = +written that we consider lack of=20 +opportunity to properly experience the power process as the most important = +of the abnormal conditions to=20 +which modern society subjects people. But it is not the only one. Before = +dealing with disruption of the=20 +power process as a source of social problems we will discuss some of the = +other sources.=20 + +47. Among the abnormal conditions present in modern industrial society are = +excessive density of=20 +population, isolation of man from nature, excessive rapidity of social = +change and the break-down of natural=20 +small-scale communities such as the extended family, the village or the = +tribe.=20 + +48. It is well known that crowding increases stress and aggression. The = +degree of crowding that exists=20 +today and the isolation of man from nature are consequences of = +technological progress. All pre-industrial=20 +societies were predominantly rural. The industrial Revolution vastly = +increased the size of cities and the=20 +proportion of the population that lives in them, and modern agricultural = +technology has made it possible for=20 +the Earth to support a far denser population than it ever did before. = +(Also, technology exacerbates the=20 +effects of crowding because it puts increased disruptive powers in people's = +hands. For example, a variety of=20 +noise-making devices: power mowers, radios, motorcycles, etc. If the use of = +these devices is unrestricted,=20 +people who want peace and quiet are frustrated by the noise.=20 +If their use is restricted, people who use the devices are frustrated by = +the regulations... But if these=20 +machines had never been invented there would have been no conflict and no = +frustration generated by=20 +them.)=20 + +49. For primitive societies the natural world (which usually changes only = +slowly) provided a stable=20 +framework and therefore a sense of security. In the modern world it is = +human society that dominates nature=20 +rather than the other way around, and modern society changes very rapidly = +owing to technological change.=20 +Thus there is no stable framework.=20 + +50. The conservatives are fools: They whine about the decay of traditional = +values, yet they enthusiastically=20 +support technological progress and economic growth. Apparently it never = +occurs to them that you can't=20 +make rapid, drastic changes in the technology and the economy of a society = +with out causing rapid changes=20 +in all other aspects of the society as well, and that such rapid changes = +inevitably break down traditional=20 +values.=20 + +51.The breakdown of traditional values to some extent implies the breakdown = +of the bonds that hold=20 +together traditional small-scale social groups. The disintegration of = +small-scale social groups is also=20 +promoted by the fact that modern conditions often require or tempt = +individuals to move to new locations,=20 +separating themselves from their communities. Beyond that, a technological = +society HAS TO weaken=20 +family ties and local communities if it is to function efficiently. In = +modern society an individual's loyalty=20 +must be first to the system and only secondarily to a small-scale = +community, because if the internal=20 +loyalties of small-scale small-scale communities were stronger than loyalty = +to the system, such=20 +communities would pursue their own advantage at the expense of the system. = + + +52. Suppose that a public official or a corporation executive appoints his = +cousin, his friend or his co- +religionist to a position rather than appointing the person best qualified = +for the job. He has permitted=20 +personal loyalty to supersede his loyalty to the system, and that is = +"nepotism" or "discrimination," both of=20 +which are terrible sins in modern society. Would-be industrial societies = +that have done a poor job of=20 +subordinating personal or local loyalties to loyalty to the system are = +usually very inefficient. (Look at Latin=20 +America.) Thus an advanced industrial society can tolerate only those = +small-scale communities that are=20 +emasculated, tamed and made into tools of the system. [7]=20 + +53. Crowding, rapid change and the breakdown of communities have been = +widely recognized as sources of=20 +social problems. but we do not believe they are enough to account for the = +extent of the problems that are=20 +seen today.=20 + +54. A few pre-industrial cities were very large and crowded, yet their = +inhabitants do not seem to have=20 +suffered from psychological problems to the same extent as modern man. In = +America today there still are=20 +uncrowded rural areas, and we find there the same problems as in urban = +areas, though the problems tend to=20 +be less acute in the rural areas. Thus crowding does not seem to be the = +decisive factor.=20 + +55. On the growing edge of the American frontier during the 19th century, = +the mobility of the population=20 +probably broke down extended families and small-scale social groups to at = +least the same extent as these=20 +are broken down today. In fact, many nuclear families lived by choice in = +such isolation, having no=20 +neighbors within several miles, that they belonged to no community at all, = +yet they do not seem to have=20 +developed problems as a result.=20 + +56.Furthermore, change in American frontier society was very rapid and = +deep. A man might be born and=20 +raised in a log cabin, outside the reach of law and order and fed largely = +on wild meat; and by the time he=20 +arrived at old age he might be working at a regular job and living in an = +ordered community with effective=20 +law enforcement. This was a deeper change that that which typically occurs = +in the life of a modern=20 +individual, yet it does not seem to have led to psychological problems. In = +fact, 19th century American=20 +society had an optimistic and self-confident tone, quite unlike that of = +today's society. [8]=20 + +57. The difference, we argue, is that modern man has the sense (largely = +justified) that change is IMPOSED=20 +on him, whereas the 19th century frontiersman had the sense (also largely = +justified) that he created change=20 +himself, by his own choice. Thus a pioneer settled on a piece of land of = +his own choosing and made it into=20 +a farm through his own effort. In those days an entire county might have = +only a couple of hundred=20 +inhabitants and was a far more isolated and autonomous entity than a modern = +county is. Hence the pioneer=20 +farmer participated as a member of a relatively small group in the creation = +of a new, ordered community.=20 +One may well question whether the creation of this community was an = +improvement, but at any rate it=20 +satisfied the pioneer's need for the power process.=20 + +58. It would be possible to give other examples of societies in which there = +has been rapid change and/or=20 +lack of close community ties without he kind of massive behavioral = +aberration that is seen in today's=20 +industrial society. We contend that the most important cause of social and = +psychological problems in=20 +modern society is the fact that people have insufficient opportunity to go = +through the power process in a=20 +normal way. We don't mean to say that modern society is the only one in = +which the power process has been=20 +disrupted. Probably most if not all civilized societies have interfered = +with the power ' process to a greater or=20 +lesser extent. But in modern industrial society the problem has become = +particularly acute. Leftism, at least=20 +in its recent=20 +(mid-to-late -20th century) form, is in part a symptom of deprivation with = +respect to the power process.=20 + +DISRUPTION OF THE POWER PROCESS IN MODERN SOCIETY + +59. We divide human drives into three groups: (1) those drives that can be = +satisfied with minimal effort; (2)=20 +those that can be satisfied but only at the cost of serious effort; (3) = +those that cannot be adequately satisfied=20 +no matter how much effort one makes. The power process is the process of = +satisfying the drives of the=20 +second group. The more drives there are in the third group, the more there = +is frustration, anger, eventually=20 +defeatism, depression, etc.=20 + +60. In modern industrial society natural human drives tend to be pushed = +into the first and third groups, and=20 +the second group tends to consist increasingly of artificially created = +drives.=20 + +61. In primitive societies, physical necessities generally fall into group = +2: They can be obtained, but only at=20 +the cost of serious effort. But modern society tends to guaranty the = +physical necessities to everyone [9] in=20 +exchange for only minimal effort, hence physical needs are pushed into = +group 1. (There may be=20 +disagreement about whether the effort needed to hold a job is "minimal"; = +but usually, in lower- to middle- +level jobs, whatever effort is required is merely that of obedience. You = +sit or stand where you are told to sit=20 +or stand and do what you are told to do in the way you are told to do it. = +Seldom do you have to exert=20 +yourself seriously, and in any case you have hardly any autonomy in work, = +so that the need for the power=20 +process is not well served.)=20 + +62. Social needs, such as sex, love and status, often remain in group 2 in = +modern society, depending on the=20 +situation of the individual. [10] But, except for people who have a = +particularly strong drive for status, the=20 +effort required to fulfill the social drives is insufficient to satisfy = +adequately the need for the power process.=20 + +63. So certain artificial needs have been created that fall into group 2, = +hence serve the need for the power=20 +process. Advertising and marketing techniques have been developed that make = +many people feel they need=20 +things that their grandparents never desired or even dreamed of. It = +requires serious effort to earn enough=20 +money to satisfy these artificial needs, hence they fall into group 2. (But = +see paragraphs 80-82.) Modern=20 +man must satisfy his need for the power process largely through pursuit of = +the artificial needs created by=20 +the advertising and marketing industry [11], and through surrogate = +activities.=20 + +64. It seems that for many people, maybe the majority, these artificial = +forms of the power process are=20 +insufficient. A theme that appears repeatedly in the writings of the social = +critics of the second half of the=20 +20th century is the sense of purposelessness that afflicts many people in = +modern society. (This=20 +purposelessness is often called by other names such as "anomic" or = +"middle-class vacuity.") We suggest=20 +that the so-called "identity crisis" is actually a search for a sense of = +purpose, often for commitment to a=20 +suitable surrogate activity. It may be that existentialism is in large part = +a response to the purposelessness of=20 +modern life. [12] Very widespread in modern society is the search for = +"fulfillment." But we think that for=20 +the majority of people an activity whose main goal is fulfillment=20 +(that is, a surrogate activity) does not bring completely satisfactory = +fulfillment. In other words, it does not=20 +fully satisfy the need for the power process. (See paragraph 41.) That need = +can be fully satisfied only=20 +through activities that have some external goal, such as physical = +necessities, sex, love, status, revenge, etc.=20 + +65. Moreover, where goals are pursued through earning money, climbing the = +status ladder or functioning=20 +as part of the system in some other way, most people are not in a position = +to pursue their goals=20 +AUTONOMOUSLY. Most workers are someone else's employee as, as we pointed = +out in paragraph 61,=20 +must spend their days doing what they are told to do in the way they are = +told to do it. Even most people=20 +who are in business for themselves have only limited autonomy. It is a = +chronic complaint of small-business=20 +persons and entrepreneurs that their hands are tied by excessive government = +regulation. Some of these=20 +regulations are doubtless unnecessary, but for the most part government = +regulations are essential and=20 +inevitable parts of our extremely complex society. A large portion of small = +business today operates on the=20 +franchise system.=20 +It was reported in the Wall Street Journal a few years ago that many of the = +franchise-granting companies=20 +require applicants for franchises to take a personality test that is = +designed to EXCLUDE those who have=20 +creativity and initiative, because such persons are not sufficiently docile = +to go along obediently with the=20 +franchise system. This excludes from small business many of the people who = +most need autonomy.=20 + +66. Today people live more by virtue of what the system does FOR them or TO = +them than by virtue of=20 +what they do for themselves. And what they do for themselves is done more = +and more along channels laid=20 +down by the system. Opportunities tend to be those that the system = +provides, the opportunities must be=20 +exploited in accord with the rules and regulations [13], and techniques = +prescribed by experts must be=20 +followed if there is to be a chance of success.=20 + +67. Thus the power process is disrupted in our society through a deficiency = +of real goals and a deficiency=20 +of autonomy in pursuit of goals. But it is also disrupted because of those = +human drives that fall into group=20 +3: the drives that one cannot adequately satisfy no matter how much effort = +one makes. One of these drives=20 +is the need for security. Our lives depend on decisions made by other = +people; we have no control over these=20 +decisions and usually we do not even know the people who make them. ("We = +live in a world in which=20 +relatively few people - maybe 500 or 1,00 - make the important decisions" - = +Philip B. Heymann of Harvard=20 +Law School, quoted by Anthony Lewis, New York Times, April 21, 1995.) Our = +lives depend on whether=20 +safety standards at a nuclear power plant are properly maintained;=20 +on how much pesticide is allowed to get into our food or how much pollution = +into our air; on how skillful=20 +(or incompetent) our doctor is; whether we lose or get a job may depend on = +decisions made by government=20 +economists or corporation executives; and so forth. Most individuals are = +not in a position to secure=20 +themselves against these threats to more [than] a very limited extent. The = +individual's search for security is=20 +therefore frustrated, which leads to a sense of powerlessness.=20 + +68. It may be objected that primitive man is physically less secure than = +modern man, as is shown by his=20 +shorter life expectancy; hence modern man suffers from less, not more than = +the amount of insecurity that is=20 +normal for human beings. but psychological security does not closely = +correspond with physical security.=20 +What makes us FEEL secure is not so much objective security as a sense of = +confidence in our ability to=20 +take care of ourselves. Primitive man, threatened by a fierce animal or by = +hunger, can fight in self-defense=20 +or travel in search of food. He has no certainty of success in these = +efforts, but he is by no means helpless=20 +against the things that threaten him. The modern individual on the other = +hand is threatened by many things=20 +against which he is helpless;=20 +nuclear accidents, carcinogens in food, environmental pollution, war, = +increasing taxes, invasion of his=20 +privacy by large organizations, nation-wide social or economic phenomena = +that may disrupt his way of=20 +life.=20 + +69. It is true that primitive man is powerless against some of the things = +that threaten him; disease for=20 +example. But he can accept the risk of disease stoically. It is part of the = +nature of things, it is no one's fault,=20 +unless is the fault of some imaginary, impersonal demon. But threats to the = +modern individual tend to be=20 +MAN-MADE. They are not the results of chance but are IMPOSED on him by = +other persons whose=20 +decisions he, as an individual, is unable to influence. Consequently he = +feels frustrated, humiliated and=20 +angry.=20 + +70. Thus primitive man for the most part has his security in his own hands = +(either as an individual or as a=20 +member of a SMALL group) whereas the security of modern man is in the hands = +of persons or=20 +organizations that are too remote or too large for him to be able = +personally to influence them. So modern=20 +man's drive for security tends to fall into groups 1 and 3; in some areas = +(food, shelter, etc.) his security is=20 +assured at the cost of only trivial effort, whereas in other areas he = +CANNOT attain security. (The foregoing=20 +greatly simplifies the real situation, but it does indicate in a rough, = +general way how the condition of=20 +modern man differs from that of primitive man.)=20 + +71. People have many transitory drives or impulses that are necessary = +frustrated in modern life, hence fall=20 +into group 3. One may become angry, but modern society cannot permit = +fighting. In many situations it=20 +does not even permit verbal aggression. When going somewhere one may be in = +a hurry, or one may be in a=20 +mood to travel slowly, but one generally has no choice but to move with the = +flow of traffic and obey the=20 +traffic signals. One may want to do one's work in a different way, but = +usually one can work only according=20 +to the rules laid down by one's employer. In many other ways as well, = +modern man is strapped down by a=20 +network of rules and regulations (explicit or implicit) that frustrate many = +of his impulses and thus interfere=20 +with the power process. Most of these regulations cannot be disposed with, = + +because the are necessary for the functioning of industrial society. = + + +72. Modern society is in certain respects extremely permissive. In matters = +that are irrelevant to the=20 +functioning of the system we can generally do what we please. We can = +believe in any religion we like (as=20 +long as it does not encourage behavior that is dangerous to the system). We = +can go to bed with anyone we=20 +like (as long as we practice "safe sex"). We can do anything we like as = +long as it is UNIMPORTANT. But=20 +in all IMPORTANT matters the system tends increasingly to regulate our = +behavior.=20 + +73. Behavior is regulated not only through explicit rules and not only by = +the government. Control is often=20 +exercised through indirect coercion or through psychological pressure or = +manipulation, and by=20 +organizations other than the government, or by the system as a whole. Most = +large organizations use some=20 +form of propaganda [14] to manipulate public attitudes or behavior. = +Propaganda is not limited to=20 +"commercials" and advertisements, and sometimes it is not even consciously = +intended as propaganda by=20 +the people who make it. For instance, the content of entertainment = +programming is a powerful form of=20 +propaganda. An example of indirect coercion: There is no law that says we = +have to go to work every day=20 +and follow our employer's orders. Legally there is=20 +nothing to prevent us from going to live in the wild like primitive people = +or from going into business for=20 +ourselves. But in practice there is very little wild country left, and = +there is room in the economy for only a=20 +limited number of small business owners. Hence most of us can survive only = +as someone else's employee.=20 + +74. We suggest that modern man's obsession with longevity, and with = +maintaining physical vigor and=20 +sexual attractiveness to an advanced age, is a symptom of unfulfillment = +resulting from deprivation with=20 +respect to the power process. The "mid-life crisis" also is such a symptom. = +So is the lack of interest in=20 +having children that is fairly common in modern society but almost = +unheard-of in primitive societies.=20 + +75. In primitive societies life is a succession of stages. The needs and = +purposes of one stage having been=20 +fulfilled, there is no particular reluctance about passing on to the next = +stage. A young man goes through the=20 +power process by becoming a hunter, hunting not for sport or for = +fulfillment but to get meat that is=20 +necessary for food. (In young women the process is more complex, with = +greater emphasis on social power;=20 +we won't discuss that here.) This phase having been successfully passed = +through, the young man has no=20 +reluctance about settling down to the responsibilities of raising a family. = +(In contrast, some modern people=20 +indefinitely postpone having children because they are too busy seeking = +some kind of "fulfillment." We=20 +suggest that the=20 +fulfillment they need is adequate experience of the power process -- with = +real goals instead of the artificial=20 +goals of surrogate activities.) Again, having successfully raised his = +children, going through the power=20 +process by providing them with the physi cal necessities, the primitive man = +feels tha t his work is done and=20 +he is prepared to accept old age (if he survives that long) and death. Many = +modern people, on the other=20 +hand, are disturbed by the prospect of death, as is shown by the amount of = +effort they expend trying to=20 +maintain their physical condition, appearance and health. We argue t hat = +this is due to unfulfillment=20 +resulting from the fact that they have never put their physical powers to = +any use, have never gone through=20 +the power process using their bodies in a serious way.=20 +It is not the primitive man, who has used his body daily for practical = +purposes, who fears the deteriora tion=20 +of age, but the modern man, who has never had a practical use for his body = +beyond walking from his car to=20 +his house. It is the man whose need for the power process has been = +satisfied during his life who is best=20 +prepared to accept the end of that life .=20 + +76. In response to the arguments of this section someone will say, "Society = +must find a way to give people=20 +the opportunity to go through the power process." For such people the value = +of the opportunity is destroyed=20 +by the very fact that society gives i t to them. What they need is to find = +or make their own opportunities. As=20 +long as the system GIVES them their opportunities it still has them on a = +leash. To attain autonomy they=20 +must get off that leash. Manifesto Contents=20 + + + +HOW SOME PEOPLE ADJUST + +77. Not everyone in industrial-technological society suffers from = +psychological problems. Some people=20 +even profess to be quite satisfied with society as it is. We now discuss = +some of the reasons why people=20 +differ so greatly in their response to modern society.=20 + +78. First, there doubtless are differences in the strength of the drive for = +power. Individuals with a weak=20 +drive for power may have relatively little need to go through the power = +process, or at least relatively little=20 +need for autonomy in the power pro cess. These are docile types who would = +have been happy as plantation=20 +darkies in the Old South. (We don't mean to sneer at "plantation darkies" = +of the Old South. To their credit,=20 +most of the slaves were NOT content with their servitude. We do sneer at = +people who ARE content with=20 +servitude.)=20 + +79. Some people may have some exceptional drive, in pursuing which they = +satisfy their need for the power=20 +process. For example, those who have an unusually strong drive for social = +status may spend their whole=20 +lives climbing the status ladder without ev er getting bored with that = +game.=20 + +80. People vary in their susceptibility to advertising and marketing = +techniques. Some people are so=20 +susceptible that, even if they make a great deal of money, they cannot = +satisfy their constant craving for the=20 +shiny new toys that the marketing industry dangles before their eyes. So = +they always f eel hard-pressed=20 +financially even if their income is large, and their cravings are = +frustrated.=20 + +81. Some people have low susceptibility to advertising and marketing = +techniques. These are the people=20 +who aren't interested in money. Material acquisition does not serve their = +need for the power process.=20 + +82. People who have medium susceptibility to advertising and marketing = +techniques are able to earn=20 +enough money to satisfy their craving for goods and services, but only at = +the cost of serious effort (putting=20 +in overtime, taking a second job, earning p romotions, etc.) Thus material = +acquisition s erves their need for=20 +the power process. But it does not necessarily follow that their need is = +fully satisfied. They may have=20 +insufficient autonomy in the power process (their work may consist of = +following orders) and some of their=20 +drives may be frustrated (e.g., security, aggression). (We are guilt y of = +oversimplification in paragraphs 80- +82 because we have assumed that the desire for material acquisition is = +entirely a creation of the advertising=20 +and marketing industry. Of course it's not that simple.=20 + +83. Some people partly satisfy their need for power by identifying = +themselves with a powerful organization=20 +or mass movement. An individual lacking goals or power joins a movement or = +an organization, adopts its=20 +goals as his own, then works toward these goals. When some of the goals are = +attained, the individual, even=20 +though his personal efforts have played only an insignificant part in the = +attainment of the goals, feels=20 +(through his identification with the movement or organization) as if he had = +gone through the power=20 +process. This phenomenon was e xploited by the fascists, nazis and communis = +ts. Our society uses it, too,=20 +though less crudely. Example: Manuel Noriega was an irritant to the U.S. = +(goal: punish Noriega). The U.S.=20 +invaded Panama (effort) and punished Noriega (attainment of goal).=20 +The U.S. went through the power process and many Ame ricans, because of = +their identification with the=20 +U.S., experienced the power process vicariously. Hence the widespread = +public approval of the Panama=20 +invasion; it gave people a sense of power. [15] We see the same phenomenon = +in armies, corporations,=20 +political parties, humanitarian organizations, rel igious or ideological = +movements. In particul ar, leftist=20 +movements tend to attract people who are seeking to satisfy their need for = +power. But for most people=20 +identification with a large organization or a mass movement does not fully = +satisfy the need for power.=20 + +84. Another way in which people satisfy their need for the power process is = +through surrogate activities. As=20 +we explained in paragraphs 38-40, a surrogate activity that is directed = +toward an artificial goal that the=20 +individual pursues for the sake of t he "fulfillment" that he gets from = +pursuing the goal, not because he=20 +needs to attain the goal itself. For instance, there is no practical motive = +for building enormous muscles,=20 +hitting a little ball into a hole or acquiring a complete series of postage = +stamps. Yet many people in our=20 +society devote t hemselves with passion to bodybuilding, golf or stamp = +collecting. Some people are more=20 +"other-directed" than others, and therefore will more readily attack = +importance to a surrogate activity=20 +simply because the people around them treat it as important=20 +or because society tells them it is important. T hat is why some people get = +very serious abou t essentially=20 +trivial activities such as sports, or bridge, or chess, or arcane scholarly = +pursuits, whereas others who are=20 +more clear-sighted never see these things as anything but the surrogate = +activities that they are, and=20 +consequently never attach enou gh importance to them to satisfy their need = +for the power process in that=20 +way. It only remains to point out that in many cases a person's way of = +earning a living is also a surrogate=20 +activity. Not a PURE surrogate activity, since part of the motive for the = +activity is to gain the physical=20 +necessitie s and (for some people) social status and th e luxuries that = +advertising makes them want. But=20 +many people put into their=20 +work far more effort than is necessary to earn whatever money and status = +they require, and this extra effort=20 +constitutes a surrogate activity. This extra effort, together with the = +emotional investment that accompanies=20 +it, i s one of the most potent forces acting toward the continual = +development and perfecting of the system,=20 +with negative consequences for individual freedom (see paragraph 131). = +Especially, for the most creative=20 +scientists and engineers, work tends to be large ly a surrogate activity. = +This point is so im portant that is=20 +deserves a separate discussion, which we shall give in a moment (paragraphs = +87-92).=20 + +85. In this section we have explained how many people in modern society do = +satisfy their need for the=20 +power process to a greater or lesser extent. But we think that for the = +majority of people the need for the=20 +power process is not fully satisfied. In th e first place, those who have = +an insatiable drive for status, or who=20 +get firmly "hooked" or a surrogate activity, or who identify strongly = +enough with a movement or=20 +organization to satisfy their need for power in that way, are exceptional = +personalities. Others are not fully=20 +satisfied with surrogate activities or by identification with an org = +anization (see paragraphs 41, 64). In the=20 +second place, too much control is imposed by the system through explicit = +regulation or through=20 +socialization,=20 +which results in a deficiency of autonomy, and in frustration due to the = +impossibility of attaining cer tain=20 +goals and the necessity of restraining too many impulses.=20 + +86. But even if most people in industrial-technological society were well = +satisfied, we (FC) would still be=20 +opposed to that form of society, because (among other reasons) we consider = +it demeaning to fulfill one's=20 +need for the power process through surr ogate activities or through = +identification w ith an organization,=20 +rather then through pursuit of real goals.=20 + +THE MOTIVES OF SCIENTISTS + +87. Science and technology provide the most important examples of surrogate = +activities. Some scientists=20 +claim that they are motivated by "curiosity," that notion is simply absurd. = +Most scientists work on highly=20 +specialized problem that are not the obje ct of any normal curiosity. For = +example, is an astronomer, a=20 +mathematician or an entomologist curious about the properties of = +isopropyltrimethylmethane? Of course=20 +not. Only a chemist is curious about such a thing, and he is curious about = +it only because chemistry is his=20 +surrogate activity. Is the c hemist curious about the appropriate classif = +ication of a new species of beetle?=20 +No. That question is of interest only to the entomologist, and he is = +interested in it only because entomology=20 +is his surrogate activity.=20 +If the chemist and the entomologist had to exert themselves seriously to = +obtain th e physical necessities,=20 +and if that effort e xercised their abilities in an interesting way but in = +some nonscientific pursuit, then they=20 +couldn't giver a damn about isopropyltrimethylmethane or the classification = +of beetles. Suppose that lack of=20 +funds for postgraduate education had led the chemist t o become an = +insurance broker instead of a ch emist.=20 +In that case he would have been very interested in insurance matters but = +would have cared nothing about=20 +isopropyltrimethylmethane. In any case it is not normal to put into the = +satisfaction of mere curiosity the=20 +amount of time and effort that scient ists put into their work. The = +"curiosity" ex planation for the scientists'=20 +motive just doesn't stand up.=20 + +88. The "benefit of humanity" explanation doesn't work any better. Some = +scientific work has no=20 +conceivable relation to the welfare of the human race - most of archaeology = +or comparative linguistics for=20 +example. Some other areas of science present obvio usly dangerous = +possibilities. Yet scientists in these=20 +areas are just as enthusiastic about their work as those who develop = +vaccines or study air pollution.=20 +Consider the case of Dr. Edward Teller, who had an obvious emotional = +involvement in promoting nuclear=20 +power plants. Did this involvement stem f rom a desire to benefit humanity? = +If so, the n why didn't Dr.=20 +Teller get emotional about other "humanitarian" causes? If he was such a = +humanitarian then why did he=20 +help to develop the H-bomb? As with many other scientific achievements, = + +it is very much open to question whether nuclear power plants ac tually do = +benefit humanity. Does the=20 +cheap e lectricity outweigh the accumulating waste and risk of accidents? = +Dr. Teller saw only one side of=20 +the question. Clearly his emotional involvement with nuclear power arose = +not from a desire to "benefit=20 +humanity" but from a personal fulfillment he got from his work and from = +seeing it put to practical use.=20 + +89. The same is true of scientists generally. With possible rare = +exceptions, their motive is neither curiosity=20 +nor a desire to benefit humanity but the need to go through the power = +process: to have a goal (a scientific=20 +problem to solve), to make an eff ort (research) and to attain the goal = +(solut ion of the problem.) Science is=20 +a surrogate activity because scientists work mainly for the fulfillment = +they get out of the work itself.=20 + +90. Of course, it's not that simple. Other motives do play a role for many = +scientists. Money and status for=20 +example. Some scientists may be persons of the type who have an insatiable = +drive for status (see paragraph=20 +79) and this may provide much of the motivation for their work. No doubt = +the majo rity of scientists, like=20 +the majority of the general population, are more or less susceptible to = +advertising and marketing techniques=20 +and need money to satisfy their craving for goods and services. Thus = +science is not a PURE surrogate=20 +activity. But it is in large part a surrogate activity.=20 + +91. Also, science and technology constitute a mass power movement, and many = +scientists gratify their need=20 +for power through identification with this mass movement (see paragraph = +83).=20 + +92. Thus science marches on blindly, without regard to the real welfare of = +the human race or to any other=20 +standard, obedient only to the psychological needs of the scientists and of = +the government officials and=20 +corporation executives who provide the fu nds for research.=20 + +THE NATURE OF FREEDOM + +93. We are going to argue that industrial-technological society cannot be = +reformed in such a way as to=20 +prevent it from progressively narrowing the sphere of human freedom. But = +because "freedom" is a word=20 +that can be interpreted in many ways, we must fi rst make clear what kind = +of freedom we are c oncerned=20 +with.=20 + +94. By "freedom" we mean the opportunity to go through the power process, = +with real goals not the=20 +artificial goals of surrogate activities, and without interference, = +manipulation or supervision from anyone,=20 +especially from any large organization. Freed om means being in control = +(either as an indi vidual or as a=20 +member of a SMALL group) of the life-and-death issues of one's existence; = +food, clothing, shelter and=20 +defense against whatever threats there may be in one's environment. Freedom = +means having power; not the=20 +power to control other people but the power to control the circumstances of = +on e's own life. One does not=20 +have freedom if anyone else (especially a large organization) has power = +over one, no matter how=20 +benevolently, tolerantly and permissively that power may be exercised. = + +It is important not to confuse freedom with mere permissivene ss (see = +paragraph 72).=20 + +95. It is said that we live in a free society because we have a certain = +number of constitutionally guaranteed=20 +rights. But these are not as important as they seem. The degree of personal = +freedom that exists in a society=20 +is determined more by the economi c and technological structure of the = +society than by its laws or its form=20 +of government. [16] Most of the Indian nations of New England were = +monarchies, and many of the cities=20 +of the Italian Renaissance were controlled by dictators. But in reading = +about these societies one gets the=20 +impression that they allowed far more personal freedom than out society = +does. In part this was because=20 +they lacked efficient mechanisms for enforcing the ruler's will: There were = +no modern, well-organized=20 +police forces, no rapid long-distance communications,=20 +no surveillance cameras, no dossiers of information abou t the lives of = +average citizens. Hence it wa s=20 +relatively easy to evade control.=20 + +96. As for our constitutional rights, consider for example that of freedom = +of the press. We certainly don't=20 +mean to knock that right: it is very important tool for limiting = +concentration of political power and for=20 +keeping those who do have political po wer in line by publicly exposing any = +misbeha vior on their part.=20 +But freedom of the press is of very little use to the average citizen as an = +individual. The mass media are=20 +mostly under the control of large organizations that are integrated into = +the system. Anyone who has a little=20 +money can have some thing printed, or can distribute it on the I nternet or = +in some such way, but what he=20 +has to say will be swamped by the vast volume of material put out by the = +media, hence it will have no=20 +practical effect.=20 +To make an impression on society with words is therefore almost impossible = +for most individual s and=20 +small groups. Take us (FC) for example . If we had never done anything = +violent and had submitted the=20 +present writings to a publisher, they probably would not have been = +accepted. If they had been accepted and=20 +published, they probably would not have attracted many readers, because = +it's more fun to watch the=20 +entertainment put out by the me dia than to read a sober essay. Even if = +these writings had had many=20 +readers, most of these readers would soon have forgotten what they had read = +as their minds were flooded=20 +by the mass of material to which the media expose them. In order to get our = +message before the public with=20 +some chance of makin g a lasting impression, we've had to kill people. = + + +97. Constitutional rights are useful up to a point, but they do not serve = +to guarantee much more than what=20 +could be called the bourgeois conception of freedom. According to the = +bourgeois conception, a "free" man=20 +is essentially an element of a social ma chine and has only a certain set = +of prescrib ed and delimited=20 +freedoms; freedoms that are designed to serve the needs of the social = +machine more than those of the=20 +individual. Thus the bourgeois's "free" man has economic freedom because = +that promotes growth and=20 +progress; he has freedom of the press b ecause public criticism restrains = +misbehavio r by political leaders;=20 +he has a rights to a fair trial because imprisonment at the whim of the = +powerful would be bad for the=20 +system. This was clearly the attitude of Simon Bolivar.=20 +To him, people deserved liberty only if they used it to promote progress = +(progress as conceived by the=20 +bourgeois). Ot her bourgeois thinkers have taken a similar view of freedom = +as a mere means to collective=20 +ends. Chester C. Tan, "Chinese Political Thought in the Twentieth Century," = +page 202, explains the=20 +philosophy of the Kuomintang leader Hu Han-min: "An individual is granted = +rights because he is a=20 +member of soc iety and his community life requires such rights. By = +community Hu meant the whole=20 +society of the nation." And on page 259 Tan states that according to Carsum = +Chang (Chang Chun-mai,=20 +head of the State Socialist Party in China) freedom had to be used in the = +interest of the state and of the=20 +people as a whole. But what kind of freedom does one have if one can use it = +only as someone else=20 +prescribes?=20 +FC's conception of freedom is not that of Bolivar, Hu, Chang or other = +bourgeois theorists. The trouble with=20 +such theorists is that they have made the develop ment and application of = +social theories thei r surrogate=20 +activity. Consequently the theories are designed to serve the needs of the = +theorists more than the needs of=20 +any people who may be unlucky enough to live in a society on which the = +theories are imposed.=20 + +98. One more point to be made in this section: It should not be assumed = +that a person has enough freedom=20 +just because he SAYS he has enough. Freedom is restricted in part by = +psychological control of which=20 +people are unconscious, and moreover many peopl e's ideas of what = +constitutes freedom are go verned=20 +more by social convention than by their real needs. For example, it's = +likely that many leftists of the=20 +oversocialized type would say that most people, including themselves are = +socialized too little rather than=20 +too much, yet the oversocialized lefti st pays a heavy psychological price = +for his high level of socialization.=20 + +SOME PRINCIPLES OF HISTORY + +99. Think of history as being the sum of two components: an erratic = +component that consists of=20 +unpredictable events that follow no discernible pattern, and a regular = +component that consists of long-term=20 +historical trends. Here we are concerned with the long-term trends. = + + +100. FIRST PRINCIPLE. If a SMALL change is made that affects a long-term = +historical trend, then the=20 +effect of that change will almost always be transitory - the trend will = +soon revert to its original state.=20 +(Example: A reform movement designed to clean up political corruption in a = +society rarely has more than a=20 +short-term effect; sooner or later the reformers relax and corruption = +creeps back in. The level of political=20 +corruption in a given society tends to remain constant, or to change only = +slowly with the evolution of the=20 +society. Normally, a p olitical cleanup will be permanent only if a = +ccompanied by widespread social=20 +changes; a SMALL change in the society won't be enough.) If a small change = +in a long-term historical=20 +trend appears to be permanent, i +t is only because the change acts in the direction in which the trend is = +already moving, s o that the trend is=20 +not altered but only pus hed a step ahead.=20 + +101. The first principle is almost a tautology. If a trend were not stable = +with respect to small changes, it=20 +would wander at random rather than following a definite direction; in other = +words it would not be a long- +term trend at all.=20 + +102. SECOND PRINCIPLE. If a change is made that is sufficiently large to = +alter permanently a long-term=20 +historical trend, than it will alter the society as a whole. In other = +words, a society is a system in which all=20 +parts are interrelated, and you can't permanently change any important part = +witho ut change all the other=20 +parts as well.=20 + +103. THIRD PRINCIPLE. If a change is made that is large enough to alter = +permanently a long-term trend,=20 +then the consequences for the society as a whole cannot be predicted in = +advance. (Unless various other=20 +societies have passed through the same change and have all experienced the = +same consequenc es, in which=20 +case one can predict on empirical grounds that another society that passes = +through the same change will be=20 +like to experience similar consequences.)=20 + +104. FOURTH PRINCIPLE. A new kind of society cannot be designed on paper. = +That is, you cannot plan=20 +out a new form of society in advance, then set it up and expect it to = +function as it was designed to.=20 + +105. The third and fourth principles result from the complexity of human = +societies. A change in human=20 +behavior will affect the economy of a society and its physical environment; = +the economy will affect the=20 +environment and vice versa, and the changes in the economy and the = +environment will affec t human=20 +behavior in complex, unpredictable ways; and so forth. The network of = +causes and effects is far too=20 +complex to be untangled and understood.=20 + +106. FIFTH PRINCIPLE. People do not consciously and rationally choose the = +form of their society.=20 +Societies develop through processes of social evolution that are not under = +rational human control.=20 + +107. The fifth principle is a consequence of the other four.=20 + +108. To illustrate: By the first principle, generally speaking an attempt = +at social reform either acts in the=20 +direction in which the society is developing anyway (so that it merely = +accelerates a change that would have=20 +occurred in any case) or else it o nly has a transitory effect, so that the = +soc iety soon slips back into its old=20 +groove. To make a lasting change in the direction of development of any = +important aspect of a society,=20 +reform is insufficient and revolution is required. (A revolution does not = +necessarily involve an armed=20 +uprising or the overthrow of a government.) By the second p rinciple, a = +revolution never changes only one=20 +aspect of a society; and by the third principle changes occur that were = +never expected or desired by the=20 +revolutionaries.=20 +By the fourth principle, when revolutionaries or utopians set up a new kind = +of society, it never works out as=20 +planned.=20 + +109. The American Revolution does not provide a counterexample. The = +American "Revolution" was not a=20 +revolution in our sense of the word, but a war of independence followed by = +a rather far-reaching political=20 +reform. The Founding Fathers did not change t he direction of development = +of American soci ety, nor did=20 +they aspire to do so. They only freed the development of American society = +from the retarding effect of=20 +British rule. Their political reform did not change any basic trend, but = +only pushed American political=20 +culture along its natural direction of development. British society, of = +which A merican society was an off- +shoot, had been moving for a long time in the direction of representative = +democracy. And prior to the War=20 +of Independence the Americans were already practicing a significant = + +degree of representative democracy in the colonial ass emblies. The = +political system established by the=20 +Constitution was modeled on the British system and on the colonial = +assemblies. With major alteration, to=20 +be sure - there is no doubt that the Founding Fathers took a very important = +step. But it was a step along the=20 +road the English-speaking world was already traveling. The proof is that = +Britai n and all of its colonies that=20 +were populated predominantly by people of British descent ended up with = +systems of representative=20 +democracy essentially similar to that of the United States. If the Founding = +Fathers had lost their nerve and=20 +declined to sign the Declaration of Independence, our way of life today = +would not have been significantly=20 +different.=20 +Maybe we would have had somewhat closer ties to Britain, and would have had = +a Parliament and Prime=20 +Minister instead of a Congress and President. No big deal. Thus the = +American Revolution provides not a=20 +counterexample to our principles but a go od illustration of them.=20 + +110. Still, one has to use common sense in applying the principles. They = +are expressed in imprecise=20 +language that allows latitude for interpretation, and exceptions to them = +can be found. So we present these=20 +principles not as inviolable laws but as rule s of thumb, or guides to = +thinking, that may provide a partial=20 +antidote to naive ideas about the future of society. The principles should = +be borne constantly in mind, and=20 +whenever one reaches a conclusion that conflicts with them one should = +carefully reexamine one's thinking=20 +and retain the conclusio n only if one has good, solid reasons for do ing = +so.=20 + +INDUSTRIAL-TECHNOLOGICAL SOCIETY CANNOT BE REFORMED + +111. The foregoing principles help to show how hopelessly difficult it = +would be to reform the industrial=20 +system in such a way as to prevent it from progressively narrowing our = +sphere of freedom. There has been=20 +a consistent tendency, going back at least to the Industrial Revolution for = +technology to strengthen the=20 +system at a high cost in individual freedom and local autonomy. Hence any = +change designed to protect=20 +freedom from technology would be contrary to a fundamental trend in the = +development of our society.=20 + +Consequently, such a change either would be a transitory one -- soon = +swamped by the tide of history -- or,=20 +if large enough to be permanent would alter the nature of our whole = +society. This by the first and second=20 +principles. Moreover, since society wo uld be altered in a way that could = +not be pr edicted in advance (third=20 +principle) there would be great risk. Changes large enough to make a = +lasting difference in favor of freedom=20 +would not be initiated because it would realized that they would gravely = +disrupt the system. So any=20 +attempts at reform w ould be too timid to be effective. Even if c hanges = +large enough to make a lasting=20 +difference were initiated, they would be retracted when their disruptive = +effects became apparent. Thus,=20 +permanent changes=20 +in favor of freedom could be brought about only by persons prepared to = +accept radical, dangero us and=20 +unpredictable alteration of the entir e system. In other words, by = +revolutionaries, not reformers.=20 + +112. People anxious to rescue freedom without sacrificing the supposed = +benefits of technology will suggest=20 +naive schemes for some new form of society that would reconcile freedom = +with technology. Apart from the=20 +fact that people who make suggestions sel dom propose any practical means = +by which the new form of=20 +society could be set up in the first place, it follows from the fourth = +principle that even if the new form of=20 +society could be once established, it either would collapse or would give = +results very different from those=20 +expected.=20 + +113. So even on very general grounds it seems highly improbably that any = +way of changing society could=20 +be found that would reconcile freedom with modern technology. In the next = +few sections we will give more=20 +specific reasons for concluding that freedo m and technological progress = +are incompatibl e.=20 + + + +RESTRICTION OF FREEDOM IS UNAVOIDABLE IN INDUSTRIAL SOCIETY + + + +114. As explained in paragraph 65-67, 70-73, modern man is strapped down by = +a network of rules and=20 +regulations, and his fate depends on the actions of persons remote from him = +whose decisions he cannot=20 +influence. This is not accidental or a result of t he arbitrariness of = +arrogant bureaucrats. I t is necessary and=20 +inevitable in any technologically advanced society. The system HAS TO = +regulate human behavior closely=20 +in order to function. At work, people have to do what they are told to do, = +otherwise production would be=20 +thrown into chaos. Bureaucra cies HAVE TO be run according to rigid rules . = +To allow any substantial=20 +personal discretion to lower-level bureaucrats would disrupt the system and = +lead to charges of unfairness=20 +due to differences in the way individual bureaucrats exercised their = +discretion.=20 +It is true that some restrictions on our freedom could be eliminated, but = +GENERALLY S PEAKING the=20 +regulation of our lives by large organizations is necessary for the = +functioning of industrial-technological=20 +society. The result is a sense of powerlessness on the part of the average = +person. It may be, however, that=20 +formal regulations will ten d increasingly to be replaced by psychologic al = +tools that make us want to do=20 +what the system requires of us. (Propaganda [14], educational techniques, = +"mental health" programs, etc.)=20 + +115. The system HAS TO force people to behave in ways that are increasingly = +remote from the natural=20 +pattern of human behavior. For example, the system needs scientists, = +mathematicians and engineers. It can't=20 +function without them. So heavy pressure is put on children to excel in = +these fields. It isn't natural for an=20 +adolescent human being to spend the bulk of his time sitting at a desk = +absorbed in study. A normal=20 +adolescent wants to spend his time in active contact with the real world. = +Among primitive peoples the=20 +things that children are trained to do are in natural harmony with natural = +h uman impulses. Among the=20 +American Indians, for example, boys were trained in active outdoor pursuits = +-- just the sort of things that=20 +boys like. But in our society children are pushed into studying technical = +subjects,=20 +which most do grudgingly.=20 + +117. In any technologically advanced society the individual's fate MUST = +depend on decisions that he=20 +personally cannot influence to any great extent. A technological society = +cannot be broken down into small,=20 +autonomous communities, because production de pends on the cooperation of = +very large numbe rs of=20 +people. When a decision affects, say, a million people, then each of the = +affected individuals has, on the=20 +average, only a one-millionth share in making the decision. What usually = +happens in practice is that=20 +decisions are made by public officials or corporation executives, or by = +technical spe cialists, but even when=20 +the public votes on a decision the number of voters ordinarily is too large = +for the vote of any one individual=20 +to be significant. [17]=20 +Thus most individuals are unable to influence measurably the major = +decisions that affect their l ives. Their=20 +is no conceivable way to remedy this in a technologically advanced society. = +The system tries to "solve" this=20 +problem by using propaganda to make people WANT the decisions that have = +been made for them, but even=20 +if this "solution" were completely successful in making people feel better, = +it would be demeaning.=20 + +118 Conservatives and some others advocate more "local autonomy." Local = +communities once did have=20 +autonomy, but such autonomy becomes less and less possible as local = +communities become more=20 +enmeshed with and dependent on large-scale systems like public utilities, = +computer networks, highway=20 +syste ms, the mass communications media, the modern health care system. = +Also operating against=20 +autonomy is the fact that technology applied in one location often affects = +people at other locations far=20 +away. Thus pesticide or chemical use near a creek may contam inate the = +water supply hundreds of miles=20 +dow nstream, and the greenhouse effect affects the whole world.=20 + +119. The system does not and cannot exist to satisfy human needs. Instead, = +it is human behavior that has to=20 +be modified to fit the needs of the system. This has nothing to do with the = +political or social ideology that=20 +may pretend to guide the technolog ical system. It is the fault of = +technology, because the system is guided=20 +not by ideology but by technical necessity. [18] Of course the system does = +satisfy many human needs, but=20 +generally speaking it does this only to the extent that it is to the = +advantage of the system to do it. It is the=20 +needs of the system that are paramount, not those of the human being. For = +example, the system provides=20 +people with food because the system couldn't function if everyone starved; = + +it attends to people's psychological needs whenever it can CONVENIENTLY do = +so, because it couldn't=20 +function if too many people be came depressed or rebellious. But the system = +, for good, solid, practical=20 +reasons, must exert constant pressure on people to mold their behavior to = +the needs of the system. Too=20 +much waste accumulating? The government, the media, the educational system, = +environmentalists,=20 +everyone inundates us with a mass of propaganda about recycling. Need mo re = +technical personnel? A=20 +chorus of voices exhorts kids to study science. No one stops to ask whether = +it is inhumane to force=20 +adolescents to spend the bulk of their time studying subjects most of them = +hate. When skilled workers are=20 +put out of a job by tec hnical advances and have to undergo "retrain ing," = +no one asks=20 +whether it is humiliating for them to be pushed around in this way. It is = +simply taken for granted that=20 +everyone must bow to technical necessity and for good reason: If human = +needs were put before technical=20 +necessity there would be econo mic problems, unemployment, shortages or wor = +se. The concept of "mental=20 +health" in our society is defined largely by the extent to which an = +individual behaves in accord with the=20 +needs of the system and does so without showing signs of stress.=20 + +120. Efforts to make room for a sense of purpose and for autonomy within = +the system are no better than a=20 +joke. For example, one company, instead of having each of its employees = +assemble only one section of a=20 +catalogue, had each assemble a whole catalog ue, and this was supposed to = +give them a sen se of purpose=20 +and achievement. Some companies have tried to give their employees more = +autonomy in their work, but for=20 +practical reasons this usually can be done only to a very limited extent, = +and in any case employees are=20 +never given autonomy as to ultima te goals -- their "autonomous" efforts = +can n ever be directed toward=20 +goals that they select personally, but only toward their employer's goals, = +such as the survival and growth of=20 +the company. Any company would=20 +soon go out of business if it permitted its employees to act otherwise. = +Similarly, in any enterprise within a=20 +socialist system, worker s must direct their efforts toward the goals of = +the enterprise, otherwise the=20 +enterprise will not serve its purpose as part of the system. Once again, = +for purely technical reasons it is not=20 +possible for most individuals or small groups to have much autono my in = +industrial society. Even the=20 +small-bus iness owner commonly has only limited autonomy. Apart from the = +necessity of government=20 +regulation, he is restricted by the fact that he must fit into the economic = +system and conform to its=20 +requirements. For instance, when someone develops a new technology , the = +small-business person often=20 +has to use that technology whether he wants to or not, in order to remain = +competitive.=20 + + + +THE 'BAD' PARTS OF TECHNOLOGY CANNOT BE SEPARATED FROM THE 'GOOD' = +PARTS + + + +121. A further reason why industrial society cannot be reformed in favor of = +freedom is that modern=20 +technology is a unified system in which all parts are dependent on one = +another. You can't get rid of the=20 +"bad" parts of technology and retain only the "g ood" parts. Take modern = +medicine, for exampl e. Progress=20 +in medical science depends on progress in chemistry, physics, biology, = +computer science and other fields.=20 +Advanced medical treatments require expensive, high-tech equipment that can = +be made available only by a=20 +technologically progressive, econ omically rich society. Clearly you can't = +hav e much progress in medicine=20 +without the whole technological system and everything that goes with it. = + + +122. Even if medical progress could be maintained without the rest of the = +technological system, it would by=20 +itself bring certain evils. Suppose for example that a cure for diabetes is = +discovered. People with a genetic=20 +tendency to diabetes will then be able to survive and reproduce as well as = +an yone else. Natural selection=20 +against genes for diabetes will cease and such genes will spread throughout = +the population. (This may be=20 +occurring to some extent already, since diabetes, while not curable, can be = +controlled through the use of=20 +insulin.) The s ame thing will happen with many other diseas es = +susceptibility to which is affected by=20 +genetic degradation of the population. The only solution will be some sort = +of eugenics program or=20 +extensive genetic engineering of human beings,=20 +so that man in the future will no longer be a creation of nature, or of = +chance, or of God (depending on your=20 +rel igious or philosophical opinions), but a manufactured product.=20 + +123. If you think that big government interferes in your life too much NOW, = +just wait till the government=20 +starts regulating the genetic constitution of your children. Such = +regulation will inevitably follow the=20 +introduction of genetic engineering of hum an beings, because the = +consequences of unreg ulated genetic=20 +engineering would be disastrous. [19]=20 + +124. The usual response to such concerns is to talk about "medical ethics." = +But a code of ethics would not=20 +serve to protect freedom in the face of medical progress; it would only = +make matters worse. A code of=20 +ethics applicable to genetic engineering wo uld be in effect a means of = +regulating the g enetic constitution=20 +of human beings. Somebody (probably the upper-middle class, mostly) would = +decide that such and such=20 +applications of genetic engineering were "ethical" and others were not, so = +that in effect they would be=20 +imposing their own values on th e genetic constitution of the population at = +large. Even if a code of ethics=20 +were chosen on a completely democratic basis, the majority would be = +imposing their own values on any=20 +minorities who might have a=20 +different idea of what constituted an "ethical" use of genetic engineering. = +The only code of e thics that=20 +would truly protect freedom would be one that prohibited ANY genetic = +engineering of human beings, and=20 +you can be sure that no such code will ever be applied in a technological = +society. No code that reduced=20 +genetic engineering to a minor role could stand up for long, because the = +temptatio n presented by the=20 +immense power of biotechn ology would be irresistible, especially since to = +the majority of people many of=20 +its applications will seem obviously and unequivocally good (eliminating = +physical and mental diseases,=20 +giving people the abilities they need to get along in today's world). In = +evitably, genetic engineering will be=20 +used e xtensively, but only in ways consistent with the needs of the = +industrial-technological system. [20]=20 + +TECHNOLOGY IS A MORE POWERFUL SOCIAL FORCE THAN THE ASPIRATION FOR=20 +FREEDOM + +125. It is not possible to make a LASTING compromise between technology and = +freedom, because=20 +technology is by far the more powerful social force and continually = +encroaches on freedom through=20 +REPEATED compromises. Imagine the case of two neighbors, each of whom at = +the outset owns the same=20 +amount of land, but one of whom is more powerful than the other. The = +powerful one demands a piece of=20 +the other's land. The weak one refuses. The powerful one says, "OK, let's = +compromise. Give me half of=20 +what I asked." The weak one has little choice but to give in. Some time = +later the powerful neighbor demand=20 +s another piece of land, again there is a compromise, and so forth. By = +forcing a long series of compromises=20 +on the weaker man, the powerful one eventually gets all of his land. So it = +goes in the conflict between=20 +technology and freedom.=20 + +126. Let us explain why technology is a more powerful social force than the = +aspiration for freedom.=20 + +127. A technological advance that appears not to threaten freedom often = +turns out to threaten freedom often=20 +turns out to threaten it very seriously later on. For example, consider = +motorized transport. A walking man=20 +formerly could go where he pleased, g o at his own pace without observing = +any traf fic regulations, and=20 +was independent of technological support-systems. When motor vehicles were = +introduced they appeared to=20 +increase man's freedom. They took no freedom away from the walking man, no = +one had to have an=20 +automobile if he didn't want one, and anyone who did choose to buy an = +automobile could travel much=20 +faster than the walking man. But the introduction of motorized transport = +soon changed society in such a=20 +way as to restrict greatly man's freedom of locomotion. When automobiles = +became numerous,=20 +it became necessary to regulate their use e xtensively. In a car, = +especially in densely populated areas, one=20 +cannot just go where one likes at one's own pace one's movement is governed = +by the flow of traffic and by=20 +various traffic laws. One is tied down by various obligations: license = +requirements, driver test, renewing=20 +registration, insuran ce, maintenance required for safety, monthly payments = +on purchase price. Moreover,=20 +the use of motorized transport is no longer optional. Since the = +introduction of motorized transport the=20 +arrangement of our cities has changed in such a way that the majority of = +people no longer live within=20 +walking di stance of their place of employment, shoppin g areas and = +recreational opportunities, so that they=20 +HAVE TO depend on the automobile for transportation.=20 +Or else they must use public transportation, in which case they have even = +less control over their own=20 +movement than when driving a car. Even the wal ker's freedom is now greatly = +restricted. In the city he=20 +continually has to stop and wait for traffic lights that are designed = +mainly to serve auto traffic. In the=20 +country, motor traffic makes it dangerous and unpleasant to walk along the = +highway. (Note the important=20 +point we have illustrated with t he case of motorized transport: When a new = +i tem of technology is=20 +introduced as an option that an individual can accept or not as he chooses, = +it does not necessarily REMAIN=20 +optional. In many cases the new technology changes society in such a way = +that people eventually find=20 +themselves FORCED to use i t.)=20 + +128. While technological progress AS A WHOLE continually narrows our sphere = +of freedom, each new=20 +technical advance CONSIDERED BY ITSELF appears to be desirable. = +Electricity, indoor plumbing, rapid=20 +long-distance communications . . . how could one argue against any of these = +things, or against any other of=20 +the innumerable technical advances that have made modern society? It would = +have been absurd to resist the=20 +introduction of the telephone, for example. It offered many advantages and = +no disadvantages. Yet as we=20 +explained in paragraphs 59-76, all th ese technical advances taken together = +have c reated world in which=20 +the average man's fate is no longer in his own hands or in the hands of his = +neighbors and friends, but in=20 +those of politicians, corporation executives and remote, anonymous = +technicians=20 +and bureaucrats whom he as an individual has no power to influence. [21] = +The same process wi ll continue=20 +in the future. Take genetic engineering, for example. Few people will = +resist the introduction of a genetic=20 +technique that eliminates a hereditary disease It does no apparent harm and = +prevents much suffering. Yet a=20 +large number of genetic impr ovements taken together will make the human = +being into an engineered=20 +product rather than a free creation of chance (or of God, or whatever, = +depending on your religious beliefs).=20 + +129 Another reason why technology is such a powerful social force is that, = +within the context of a given=20 +society, technological progress marches in only one direction; it can never = +be reversed. Once a technical=20 +innovation has been introduced, people us ually become dependent on it, = +unless it is r eplaced by some still=20 +more advanced innovation. Not only do people become dependent as = +individuals on a new item of=20 +technology, but, even more, the system as a whole becomes dependent on it. = +(Imagine what would happen=20 +to the system today if computers, for example, were eliminated.) Thus the = +system can move in only one=20 +direction, toward greater technologization. Technology repeatedly forces = +freedom to take a step back --=20 +short of the overthrow of the whole technological system.=20 + +130. Technology advances with great rapidity and threatens freedom at many = +different points at the same=20 +time (crowding, rules and regulations, increasing dependence of individuals = +on large organizations,=20 +propaganda and other psychological techniques, g enetic engineering, = +invasion of privacy thro ugh=20 +surveillance devices and computers, etc.) To hold back any ONE of the = +threats to freedom would require a=20 +long different social struggle. Those who want to protect freedom are = +overwhelmed by the sheer number of=20 +new attacks and the rapidity with which t hey develop, hence they become = +pathetic and no longer resist. To=20 +fight each of the threats separately would be futile. Success can be hoped = +for only by fighting the=20 +technological system as a whole; but that is revolution not reform. = + + +131. Technicians (we use this term in its broad sense to describe all those = +who perform a specialized task=20 +that requires training) tend to be so involved in their work (their = +surrogate activity) that when a conflict=20 +arises between their technical work and freedom, they almost always decide = +in fa vor of their technical=20 +work. This is obvious in the case of scientists, but it also appears = +elsewhere: Educators, humanitarian=20 +groups, conservation organizations do not hesitate to use propaganda or = +other psychological techniques to=20 +help them achieve thei r laudable ends. Corporations and government = +agencies, when they find it useful, do=20 +not hesitate to collect information about individuals without regard to = +their privacy. Law enforcement=20 +agencies are=20 +frequently inconvenienced by the constitutional rights of suspects and = +often of completely innocent=20 +persons, and they do whatever they can do l egally (or sometimes illegally) = +to restrict or circumvent those=20 +rights. Most of these educators, government officials and law officers = +believe in freedom, privacy and=20 +constitutional rights, but when these conflict with their work, they = +usually feel that t heir work is more=20 +important.=20 + +132. It is well known that people generally work better and more = +persistently when striving for a reward=20 +than when attempting to avoid a punishment or negative outcome. Scientists = +and other technicians are=20 +motivated mainly by the rewards they get throu gh their work. But those who = +oppose technilo giccal=20 +invasions of freedom are working to avoid a negative outcome, consequently = +there are a few who work=20 +persistently and well at this discouraging task. If reformers ever achieved = +a signal victory that seemed to set=20 +up a solid barrier against further e rosion of freedom through = +technological prog ress, most would tend to=20 +relax and turn their attention to more agreeable pursuits. But the = +scientists would remain busy in their=20 +laboratories, and technology as it progresses would find ways,=20 +in spite of any barriers, to exert more and more control over individuals = +and make them always more=20 +depend ent on the system.=20 + +133. No social arrangements, whether laws, institutions, customs or ethical = +codes, can provide permanent=20 +protection against technology. History shows that all social arrangements = +are transitory; they all change or=20 +break down eventually. But technologic al advances are permanent within the = +context of a given=20 +civilization. Suppose for example that it were possible to arrive at some = +social arrangements that would=20 +prevent genetic engineering from being applied to human beings, or prevent = +it from being applied in such a=20 +ways as to threaten freedom and dignity. Still, the technology would remain = +waiting. Sooner or later the=20 +social arrangement would break down. Probably sooner, given that pace of = +change in our society. Then=20 +genetic engineering would begin to invade our=20 +sphere of freedom, and this invasion would be irreversible (short of a = +breakdo wn of technological=20 +civilization itself). An y illusions about achieving anything permanent = +through social arrangements should=20 +be dispelled by what is currently happening with environmental legislation. = +A few years ago it seemed that=20 +there were secure legal barriers preventing at least SOME of the w orst = +forms of environmental=20 +degradation. A c hange in the political wind, and those barriers begin to = +crumble.=20 + +134. For all of the foregoing reasons, technology is a more powerful social = +force than the aspiration for=20 +freedom. But this statement requires an important qualification. It appears = +that during the next several=20 +decades the industrial-technological syst em will be undergoing severe = +stresses due to economic and=20 +environmental problems, and especially due to problems of human behavior = +(alienation, rebellion, hostility,=20 +a variety of social and psychological difficulties). We hope that the = +stresses through which the system is=20 +likely to pass will cause it to break down, or at least weaken it suff = +iciently so that a revolution occurs and=20 +is successful, then at that particular moment the aspiration for freedom = +will have proved more powerful=20 +than technology.=20 + +135. In paragraph 125 we used an analogy of a weak neighbor who is left = +destitute by a strong neighbor=20 +who takes all his land by forcing on him a series of compromises. But = +suppose now that the strong=20 +neighbor gets sick, so that he is unable to defend himself. The weak = +neighbor can force the str ong one to=20 +give him his land back, or he can kill him. If he lets the strong man = +survive and only forces him to give his=20 +land back, he is a fool, because when the strong man gets well he will = +again take all the land for himself.=20 +The only sensible alternat ive for the weaker man is to kill the strong one = +while he has the chance. In the=20 +same way, while the industrial system is sick we must destroy it. If we = +compromise with it and let it=20 +recover from its sickness, it will eventually wipe out all of our freedom. = + + +SIMPLER SOCIAL PROBLEMS HAVE PROVED INTRACTABLE + +136. If anyone still imagines that it would be possible to reform the = +system in such a way as to protect=20 +freedom from technology, let him consider how clumsily and for the most = +part unsuccessfully our society=20 +has dealt with other social problems that a re far more simple and = +straightforward. Amon g other things, the=20 +system has failed to stop environmental degradation, political corruption, = +drug trafficking or domestic=20 +abuse.=20 + +137. Take our environmental problems, for example. Here the conflict of = +values is straightforward:=20 +economic expedience now versus saving some of our natural resources for our = +grandchildren [22] But on=20 +this subject we get only a lot of blather and obfus cation from the people = +who have power, and n othing=20 +like a clear, consistent line of action, and we keep on piling up = +environmental problems that our=20 +grandchildren will have to live with. Attempts to resolve the environmental = +issue consist of struggles and=20 +compromises between different factions, som e of which are ascendant at one = +moment, othe rs at another=20 +moment. The line of struggle changes with the shifting currents of public = +opinion. This is not a rational=20 +process, or is it one that is likely to lead to a timely and successful = +solution to the problem.=20 +Major social problems, if they get "so lved" at all, are rarely or never = +solved thr ough any rational,=20 +comprehensive plan. They just work themselves out through a process in = +which various competing groups=20 +pursing their own usually short-term) self-interest [23] arrive (mainly by = +luck) at some more or less stable=20 +modus vivendi. In fact, t he principles we formulated in paragraphs 10 = +0-106 make it seem doubtful that=20 +rational, long-term social planning can EVER be successful. 138. Thus it is = +clear that the human race has at=20 +best a very limited capacity for solving even relatively straightforward = +social problems. How then is it=20 +going to solve the far more difficult and subtle problem of reconciling = +freedom with technology?=20 +Technology presents clear-cut material advantages,=20 +whereas freedom is an abstraction that means different things to different = +people, and its loss is easily=20 +obscured by propaganda and fancy talk.=20 + +139. And note this important difference: It is conceivable that our = +environmental problems (for example)=20 +may some day be settled through a rational, comprehensive plan, but if this = +happens it will be only because=20 +it is in the long-term interest of the system to solve these problems. But = +it is NOT in the interest of the=20 +system to preserve freedom or small-group autonomy. On the contrary, it is = +in the interest of the system to=20 +bring human behavior under control to the greatest possible extent. Thus, = +while practical considerations=20 +may eventually force the system to take a rational, prudent approach to = +environmental problems, equally=20 +practical considerations will force the system to regulate human behavior = +ever more closely (preferably by=20 +indirect means that will disguise the encroachment on freedom.)=20 +This isn't just our opinion. Eminent social scientists (e.g. James Q. = +Wilson) have stressed the importance of=20 +"socializing" people more effectively. + + + +REVOLUTION IS EASIER THAN REFORM + +140. We hope we have convinced the reader that the system cannot be = +reformed in a such a way as to=20 +reconcile freedom with technology. The only way out is to dispense with the = +industrial-technological=20 +system altogether. This implies revolution, not necessarily an armed = +uprising, but certainly a radical and=20 +fundamental change in the nature of society.=20 + +141. People tend to assume that because a revolution involves a much = +greater change than reform does, it is=20 +more difficult to bring about than reform is. Actually, under certain = +circumstances revolution is much=20 +easier than reform. The reason is that a revolutionary movement can inspire = +an intensity of commitment=20 +that a reform movement cannot inspire. A reform movement merely offers to = +solve a particular social=20 +problem A revolutionary movement offers to solve all problems at one stroke = +and create a whole new=20 +world; it provides the kind of ideal for which people will take great risks = +and make great sacrifices. For this=20 +reasons it would be much easier to overthrow the whole technological system = +than to put effective,=20 +permanent restraints on the development of application of any one segment = +of technology, s +uch as genetic engineering, but under suitable conditions large numbers of = +people may devote themselves=20 +passionately=20 +to a revolution against the industrial-technological system. As we noted in = +paragraph 132, reformers=20 +seeking to limite certain aspects of technology would be working to avoid a = +negative outcome. But=20 +revolutionaries work to gain a powerful reward -- fulfillment of their = +revolutionary vision -- and therefore=20 +work harder and more persistently than reformers do.=20 + +142. Reform is always restrainde by the fear of painful consequences if = +changes go too far. But once a=20 +revolutionary fever has taken hold of a society, people are willing to = +undergo unlimited hardships for the=20 +sake of their revolution. This was clearly shown in the French and Russian = +Revolutions. It may be that in=20 +such cases only a minority of the population is really committed to the = +revolution, but this minority is=20 +sufficiently large and active so that it becomes the dominant force in = +society. We will have more to say=20 +about revolution in paragraphs 180-205.=20 + + + +CONTROL OF HUMAN BEHAVIOR + +143. Since the beginning of civilization, organized societies have had to = +put pressures on human beings of=20 +the sake of the functioning of the social organism. The kinds of pressures = +vary greatly from one society to=20 +another. Some of the pressures are physical (poor diet, excessive labor, = +environmental pollution), some are=20 +psychological (noise, crowding, forcing humans behavior into the mold that = +society requires). In the past,=20 +human nature has been approximately constant, or at any rate has varied = +only within certain bounds.=20 +Consequently, societies have been able to push people only up to certain = +limits. When the limit of human=20 +endurance has been passed, things start going rong: rebellion, or crime, or = +corruption, or evasion of work,=20 +or depression and other mental problems,=20 +or an elevated death rate, or a declining birth rate or something else, so = +that either the society breaks down,=20 +or its functioning becomes too inefficient and it is (quickly or gradually, = +through conquest, attrition or=20 +evolution) replaces by some more efficient form of society. + +[25]=20 + +144. Thus human nature has in the past put certain limits on the = +development of societies. People coud be=20 +pushed only so far and no farther. But today this may be changing, because = +modern technology is=20 +developing way of modifying human beings. + +145. Imagine a society that subjects people to conditions that amke them = +terribley unhappy, then gives=20 +them the drugs to take away their unhappiness. Science fiction? It is = +already happening to some extent in=20 +our own society. It is well known that the rate of clinical depression had = +been greatly increasing in recent=20 +decades. We believe that this is due to disruption fo the power process, as = +explained in paragraphs 59-76.=20 +But even if we are wrong, the increasing rate of depression is certainly = +the result of SOME conditions that=20 +exist in today's society. Instead of removing the conditions that make = +people depressed, modern society=20 +gives them antidepressant drugs. In effect, antidepressants area a means of = +modifying an individual's=20 +internal state in such a way as to=20 +enable him to toelrate social conditions that he would otherwise find = +intolerable. (Yes, we know that=20 +depression is often of purely genetic origin. We are referring here to = +those cases in which environment=20 +plays the predominant role.)=20 + +146. Drugs that affect the mind are only one example of the methods of = +controlling human behavior that=20 +modern society is developing. Let us look at some of the other methods. = + + +147. To start with, there are the techniques of surveillance. Hidden video = +cameras are now used in most=20 +stores and in many other places, computers are used to collect and process = +vast amounts of information=20 +about individuals. Information so obtained greatly increases the = +effectiveness of physical coercion (i.e., law=20 +enforcement).[26] Then there are the methods of propaganda, for which the = +mass communication media=20 +provide effective vehicles. Efficient techniques have been developed for = +winning elections, selling=20 +products, influencing public opinion. The entertainment industry serves as = +an important psychological tool=20 +of the system, possibly even when it is dishing out large amounts of sex = +and violence. Entertainment=20 +provides modern man with an essential means of escape.=20 +While absorbed in television, videos, etc., he can forget stress, anxiety, = +frustration, dissatisfaction. Many=20 +primitive peoples, when they don't have work to do, are quite content to = +sit for hours at a time doing=20 +nothing at all, because they are at peace with themselves and their world. = +But most modern people must be=20 +contantly occupied or entertained, otherwise the get "bored," i.e., they = +get fidgety, uneasy, irritable.=20 + +148. Other techniques strike deeper that the foregoing. Education is no = +longer a simple affair of paddling a=20 +kid's behind when he doesn't know his lessons and patting him on the head = +when he does know them. It is=20 +becoming a scientific technique for controlling the child's development. = +Sylvan Learning Centers, for=20 +example, have had great success in motivating children to study, and = +psychological techniques are also=20 +used with more or less success in many conventional schools. "Parenting" = +techniques that are taught to=20 +parents are designed to make children accept fundamental values of the = +system and behave in ways that the=20 +system finds desirable. "Mental health" programs, "intervention" = +techniques, psychotherapy and so forth=20 +are ostensibly designed to benefit individuals,=20 +but in practice they usually serve as methods for inducing individuals to = +think and behave as the system=20 +requires. (There is no contradiction here; an individual whose attitudes or = +behavior bring him into conflict=20 +with the system is up against a force that is too powerful for him to = +conquer or escape from, hence he is=20 +likely to suffer from stress, frustration, defeat. His path will be much = +easier if he thinks and behaves as the=20 +system requires. In that sense the system is acting for the benefit of the = +individual when it brainwashes him=20 +into conformity.) Child abuse in its gross and obvious forms is disapproved = +in most if not all cultures.=20 +Tormenting a child for a trivial reason or no reason at all is something = +that appalls almost everyone.=20 +But many psychologists interpret the concept of abuse much more broadly. Is = +spanking, when used as part=20 +of a rational and consistent system of discipline, a form of abuse? The = +question will ultimately be decided=20 +by whether or not spanking tends to produce behavior that makes a person = +fit in well with the existing=20 +system of society. In practice, the word "abuse" tends to be interpreted to = +include any method of child- +rearing that produces behavior inconvenient for the system. Thus, when they = +go beyond the prevention of=20 +obvious, senseless cruelty, programs for preventing "child abuse" are = +directed toward the control of human=20 +behavior of the system.=20 + +149. Presumably, research will continue to increas the effectiveness of = +psychological techniques for=20 +controlling human behavior. But we think it is unlikely that psychological = +techniques alone will be=20 +sufficient to adjust human beings to the kind of society that technology is = +creating. Biological methods=20 +probably will have to be used. We have already mentiond the use of drugs in = +this connection. Neurology=20 +may provide other avenues of modifying the human mind. Genetic engineering = +of human beings is already=20 +beginning to occur in the form of "gene therapy," and there is no reason to = +assume the such methods will=20 +not eventually be used to modify those aspects of the body that affect = +mental funtioning.=20 + +150. As we mentioned in paragraph 134, industrial society seems likely to = +be entering a period of severe=20 +stress, due in part to problems of human behavior and in part to economic = +and environmental problems.=20 +And a considerable proportion of the system's economic and environmental = +problems result from the way=20 +human beings behave. Alienation, low self-esteem, depression, hostility, = +rebellion; children who won't=20 +study, youth gangs, illegal drug use, rape, child abuse , other crimes, = +unsafe sex, teen pregnancy,=20 +population growth, political corruption, race hatred, ethnic rivalry, = +bitter ideological conflict (i.e., pro- +choice vs. pro-life), political extremism, terrorism, sabotage, = +anti-government groups, hate groups. All=20 +these threaten the very survival of the system.=20 +The system will be FORCED to use every practical means of controlling human = +behavior.=20 + +151. The social disruption that we see today is certainly not the result of = +mere chance. It can only be a=20 +result fo the conditions of life that the system imposes on people. (We = +have argued that the most important=20 +of these conditions is disruption of the power process.) If the systems = +succeeds in imposing sufficient=20 +control over human behavior to assure itw own survival, a new watershed in = +human history will have=20 +passed. Whereas formerly the limits of human endurance have imposed limits = +on the development of=20 +societies (as we explained in paragraphs 143, 144), = +industrial-technological society will be able to pass=20 +those limits by modifying human beings, whether by psychological methods or = +biological methods or both.=20 +In the future, social systems will not be adjusted to suit the needs of = +human beings.=20 +Instead, human being will be adjusted to suit the needs of the = +system. + +[27] 152. Generally speaking, technological control over human behavior = +will probably not be introduced=20 +with a totalitarian intention or even through a conscious desire to = +restrict human freedom. [28] Each new=20 +step in the assertion of control over the human mind will be taken as a = +rational response to a problem that=20 +faces society, such as curing alcoholism, reducing the crime rate or = +inducing young people to study science=20 +and engineering. In many cases, there will be humanitarian justification. = +For example, when a psychiatrist=20 +prescribes an anti-depressant for a depressed patient, he is clearly doing = +that individual a favor. It would be=20 +inhumane to withhold the drug from someone who needs it. When parents send = +their children to Sylvan=20 +Learning Centers to have them manipulated into becoming enthusiastic about = +their studies,=20 +they do so from concern for their children's welfare. It may be that some = +of these parents wish that one=20 +didn't have to have specialized training to get a job and that their kid = +didn't have to be brainwashed into=20 +becoming a computer nerd. But what can they do? They can't change society, = +and their child may be=20 +unemployable if he doesn't have certain skills. So they send him to Sylvan. = + + +153. Thus control over human behavior will be introduced not by a = +calculated decision of the authorities=20 +but through a process of social evolution (RAPID evolution, however). The = +process will be impossible to=20 +resist, because each advance, considered by itself, will appear to be = +beneficial, or at least the evil involved=20 +in making the advance will appear to be beneficial, or at least the evil = +involved in making the advance will=20 +seem to be less than that which would result from not making it (see = +paragraph 127). Propaganda for=20 +example is used for many good purposes, such as discouraging child abuse or = +race hatred. [14] Sex=20 +education is obviously useful, yet the effect of sex education (to the = +extent that it is successful) is to take=20 +the shaping of sexual attitudes=20 +away from the family and put it into the hands of the state as represented = +by the public school system.=20 + +154. Suppose a biological trait is discovered that increases the likelihood = +that a child will grow up to be a=20 +criminal and suppose some sort of gene therapy can remove this trait. [29] = +Of course most parents whose=20 +children possess the trait will have them undergo the therapy. It would be = +inhumane to do otherwise, since=20 +the child would probably have a miserable life if he grew up to be a = +criminal. But many or most primitive=20 +societies have a low crime rate in comparison with that of our society, = +even though they have neither high- +tech methods of child-rearing nor harsh systems of punishment. Since there = +is no reason to suppose that=20 +more modern men than primitive men have innate predatory tendencies, the = +high crime rate of our society=20 +must be due to the pressures that modern conditions put on people,=20 +to which many cannot or will not adjust. Thus a treatment designed to = +remove potential criminal tendencies=20 +is at least in part a way of re-engineering people so that they suit the = +requirements of the system.=20 + +155. Our society tends to regard as a "sickness" any mode of thought or = +behavior that is inconvenient for=20 +the system, and this is plausible because when an individual doesn't fit = +into the system it causes pain to the=20 +individual as well as problems for the system. Thus the manipulation of an = +individual to adjust him to the=20 +system is seen as a "cure" for a "sickness" and therefore as good.=20 + +156. In paragraph 127 we pointed out that if the use of a new item of = +technology is INITIALLY optional, it=20 +does not necessarily REMAIN optional, because the new technology tends to = +change society in such a way=20 +that it becomes difficult or impossible for an individual to function = +without using that technology. This=20 +applies also to the technology of human behavior. In a world in which most = +children are put through a=20 +program to make them enthusiastic about studying, a parent will almost be = +forced to put his kid through=20 +such a program, because if he does not, then the kid will grow up to be, = +comparatively speaking, an=20 +ignoramus and therefore unemployable. Or suppose a biological treatment is = +discovered that, without=20 +undesirable side-effects,=20 +will greatly reduce the psychological stress from which so many people = +suffer in our society. If large=20 +numbers of people choose to undergo the treatment, then the general level = +of stress in society will be=20 +reduced, so that it will be possible for the system to increase the = +stress-producing pressures. In fact,=20 +something like this seems to have happened already with one of our = +society's most important psychological=20 +tools for enabling people to reduce (or at least temporarily escape from) = +stress, namely, mass entertainment=20 +(see paragraph 147). Our use of mass entertainment is "optional": No law = +requires us to watch television,=20 +listen to the radio, read magazines. Yet mass entertainment is a means of = +escape and stress-reduction on=20 +which most of us have become dependent.=20 +Everyone complains about the trashiness of television, but almost everyone = +watches it. A few have kicked=20 +the TV habit, but it would be a rare person who could get along today = +without using ANY form of mass=20 +entertainment. (Yet until quite recently in human history most people got = +along very nicely with no other=20 +entertainment than that which each local community created for itself.) = +Without the entertainment industry=20 +the system probably would not have been able to get away with putting as = +much stress-producing pressure=20 +on us as it does.=20 + +157. Assuming that industrial society survives, it is likely that = +technology will eventually acquire=20 +something approaching complete control over human behavior. It has been = +established beyond any rational=20 +doubt that human thought and behavior have a largely biological basis. As = +experimenters have=20 +demonstrated, feelings such as hunger, pleasure, anger and fear can be = +turned on and off by electrical=20 +stimulation of appropriate parts of the brain. Memories can be destroyed by = +damaging parts of the brain or=20 +they can be brought to the surface by electrical stimulation. = +Hallucinations can be induced or moods=20 +changed by drugs. There may or may not be an immaterial human soul, but if = +there is one it clearly is less=20 +powerful that the biological mechanisms of human behavior.=20 +For if that were not the case then researchers would not be able so easily = +to manipulate human feelings and=20 +behavior with drugs and electrical currents.=20 + +158. It presumably would be impractical for all people to have electrodes = +inserted in their heads so that=20 +they could be controlled by the authorities. But the fact that human = +thoughts and feelings are so open to=20 +biological intervention shows that the problem of controlling human = +behavior is mainly a technical=20 +problem; a problem of neurons, hormones and complex molecules; the kind of = +problem that is accessible to=20 +scientific attack. Given the outstanding record of our society in solving = +technical problems, it is=20 +overwhelmingly probable that great advances will be made in the control of = +human behavior.=20 + +159. Will public resistance prevent the introduction of technological = +control of human behavior? It=20 +certainly would if an attempt were made to introduce such control all at = +once. But since technological=20 +control will be introduced through a long sequence of small advances, there = +will be no rational and=20 +effective public resistance. (See paragraphs 127,132, 153.)=20 + +160. To those who think that all this sounds like science fiction, we point = +out that yesterday's science=20 +fiction is today's fact. The Industrial Revolution has radically altered = +man's environment and way of life,=20 +and it is only to be expected that as technology is increasingly applied to = +the human body and mind, man=20 +himself will be altered as radically as his environment and way of life = +have been.=20 + + + +HUMAN RACE AT A CROSSROADS + +161. But we have gotten ahead of our story. It is one thing to develop in = +the laboratory a series of=20 +psychological or biological techniques for manipulating human behavior and = +quite another to integrate=20 +these techniques into a functioning social system. The latter problem is = +the more difficult of the two. For=20 +example, while the techniques of educational psychology doubtless work = +quite well in the "lab schools"=20 +where they are developed, it is not necessarily easy to apply them = +effectively throughout our educational=20 +system. We all know what many of our schools are like. The teachers are too = +busy taking knives and guns=20 +away from the kids to subject them to the latest techniques for making them = +into computer nerds. Thus, in=20 +spite of all its technical advances relating=20 +to human behavior the system to date has not been impressively successful = +in controlling human beings.=20 +The people whose behavior is fairly well under the control of the system = +are those of the type that might be=20 +called "bourgeois." But there are growing numbers of people who in one way = +or another are rebels against=20 +the system: welfare leaches, youth gangs cultists, satanists, nazis, = +radical environmentalists, militiamen,=20 +etc..=20 + +162. The system is currently engaged in a desperate struggle to overcome = +certain problems that threaten its=20 +survival, among which the problems of human behavior are the most = +important. If the system succeeds in=20 +acquiring sufficient control over human behavior quickly enough, it will = +probably survive. Otherwise it=20 +will break down. We think the issue will most likely be resolved within the = +next several decades, say 40 to=20 +100 years.=20 + +163. Suppose the system survives the crisis of the next several decades. By = +that time it will have to have=20 +solved, or at least brought under control, the principal problems that = +confront it, in particular that of=20 +"socializing" human beings; that is, making people sufficiently docile so = +that their behavior no longer=20 +threatens the system. That being accomplished, it does not appear that = +there would be any further obstacle=20 +to the development of technology, and it would presumably advance toward = +its logical conclusion, which is=20 +complete control over everything on Earth, including human beings and all = +other important organisms. The=20 +system may become a unitary, monolithic organization, or it may be more or = +less fragmented and consist of=20 +a number of organizations coexisting=20 +in a relationship that includes elements of both cooperation and = +competition, just as today the government,=20 +the corporations and other large organizations both cooperate and compete = +with one another. Human=20 +freedom mostly will have vanished, because individuals and small groups = +will be impotent vis-a-vis large=20 +organizations armed with supertechnology and an arsenal of advanced = +psychological and biological tools=20 +for manipulating human beings, besides instruments of surveillance and = +physical coercion. Only a small=20 +number of people will have any real power, and even these probably will = +have only very limited freedom,=20 +because their behavior too will be regulated; just as today our politicians = +and corporation executives can=20 +retain their positions of power only as long=20 +as their behavior remains within certain fairly narrow limits.=20 + +164. Don't imagine that the systems will stop developing further techniques = +for controlling human beings=20 +and nature once the crisis of the next few decades is over and increasing = +control is no longer necessary for=20 +the system's survival. On the contrary, once the hard times are over the = +system will increase its control over=20 +people and nature more rapidly, because it will no longer be hampered by = +difficulties of the kind that it is=20 +currently experiencing. Survival is not the principal motive for extending = +control. As we explained in=20 +paragraphs 87-90, technicians and scientists carry on their work largely as = +a surrogate activity; that is, they=20 +satisfy their need for power by solving technical problems. They will = +continue to do this with unabated=20 +enthusiasm,=20 +and among the most interesting and challenging problems for them to solve = +will be those of understanding=20 +the human body and mind and intervening in their development. For the "good = +of humanity," of course.=20 + +165. But suppose on the other hand that the stresses of the coming decades = +prove to be too much for the=20 +system. If the system breaks down there may be a period of chaos, a "time = +of troubles" such as those that=20 +history has recorded: at various epochs in the past. It is impossible to = +predict what would emerge from such=20 +a time of troubles, but at any rate the human race would be given a new = +chance. The greatest danger is that=20 +industrial society may begin to reconstitute itself within the first few = +years after the breakdown. Certainly=20 +there will be many people (power-hungry types especially) who will be = +anxious to get the factories running=20 +again.=20 + +166. Therefore two tasks confront those who hate the servitude to which the = +industrial system is reducing=20 +the human race. First, we must work to heighten the social stresses within = +the system so as to increase the=20 +likelihood that it will break down or be weakened sufficiently so that a = +revolution against it becomes=20 +possible. Second, it is necessary to develop and propagate an ideology that = +opposes technology and the=20 +industrial society if and when the system becomes sufficiently weakened. = +And such an ideology will help=20 +to assure that, if and when industrial society breaks down, its remnants = +will be smashed beyond repair, so=20 +that the system cannot be reconstituted. The factories should be destroyed, = +technical books burned, etc.=20 + + + +HUMAN SUFFERING + +167. The industrial system will not break down purely as a result of = +revolutionary action. It will not be=20 +vulnerable to revolutionary attack unless its own internal problems of = +development lead it into very serious=20 +difficulties. So if the system breaks down it will do so either = +spontaneously, or through a process that is in=20 +part spontaneous but helped along by revolutionaries. If the breakdown is = +sudden, many people will die,=20 +since the world's population has become so overblown that it cannot even = +feed itself any longer without=20 +advanced technology. Even if the breakdown is gradual enough so that = +reduction of the population can=20 +occur more through lowering of the birth rate than through elevation of the = +death rate, the process of de- +industrialization probably will=20 +be very chaotic and involve much suffering. It is naive to think it likely = +that technology can be phased out=20 +in a smoothly managed orderly way, especially since the technophiles will = +fight stubbornly at every step. Is=20 +it therefore cruel to work for the breakdown of the system? Maybe, but = +maybe not. In the first place,=20 +revolutionaries will not be able to break the system down unless it is = +already in deep trouble so that there=20 +would be a good chance of its eventually breaking down by itself anyway; = +and the bigger the system=20 +grows, the more disastrous the consequences of its breakdown will be; so it = +may be that revolutionaries, by=20 +hastening the onset of the breakdown will be reducing the extent of the = +disaster.=20 + +168. In the second place, one has to balance the struggle and death against = +the loss of freedom and dignity.=20 +To many of us, freedom and dignity are more important than a long life or = +avoidance of physical pain.=20 +Besides, we all have to die some time, and it may be better to die fighting = +for survival, or for a cause, than=20 +to live a long but empty and purposeless life.=20 + +169. In the third place, it is not all certain that the survival of the = +system will lead to less suffering than the=20 +breakdown of the system would. The system has already caused, and is = +continuing to cause , immense=20 +suffering all over the world. Ancient cultures, that for hundreds of years = +gave p eople a satisfactory=20 +relationship with each other and their environment, have been shattered by = +contact with industrial society,=20 +and the result has been a whole catalogue of economic, environmental, = +social and psychological problems.=20 +One of the effects o f the intrusion of industrial society has be en that = +over much of the world traditional=20 +controls on population have been thrown out of balance. Hence the = +population explosion, with all that it=20 +implies.=20 +Then there is the psychological suffering that is widespread throughout the = +supposedly fortunate countries=20 +of the West (see paragraphs 44, 4 5). No one knows what will happen as a = +result of ozone depletion, the=20 +greenhouse effect and other environmental problems that cannot yet be = +foreseen. And, as nuclear=20 +proliferation has shown, new technology cannot be kept out of the hands of = +dictators an d irresponsible=20 +Third World nations. Would you like to speculate abut what Iraq or North = +Korea will do with genetic=20 +engineering?=20 + +170. "Oh!" say the technophiles, "Science is going to fix all that! We will = +conquer famine, eliminate=20 +psychological suffering, make everybody healthy and happy!" Yeah, sure. = +That's what they said 200 years=20 +ago. The Industrial Revolution was supposed to eliminate poverty, make = +everybody happy, etc. The actual=20 +result has been quite different. The technophiles are hopelessly naive (or = +self-deceiving) in their=20 +understanding of social problems. They are unaware of (or choose to ignore) = +the fact that when large=20 +changes, even seemingly beneficial ones, are introduced into a society, = +they le ad to a long sequence of=20 +other changes, most of which are impossible to predict (paragraph 103). The = +result is disruption of the=20 +society. So it is very probable that=20 +in their attempt to end poverty and disease, engineer docile, happy = +personalities and s o forth, the=20 +technophiles will create socia l systems that are terribly troubled, even = +more so that the present one. For=20 +example, the scientists boast that they will end famine by creating new, = +genetically engineered food plants.=20 +But this will allow the human population to keep expanding indefini tely, = +and it is well known that=20 +crowding lea ds to increased stress and aggression. This is merely one = +example of the PREDICTABLE=20 +problems that will arise. We emphasize that, as past experience has shown, = +technical progress will lead to=20 +other new problems for society far more rapidly that it has b een solving = +old ones. Thus it will take a l ong=20 +difficult period of=20 +trial and error for the technophiles to work the bugs out of their Brave = +New World (if they ever do). In the=20 +meantime there will be great suffering. So it is not all clear that the = +survival of industrial society would=20 +involve les s suffering than the breakdown of that socie ty would. = +Technology has gotten the human race=20 +into a fix from which there is not likely to be any easy escape.=20 + + + +THE FUTURE + +171. But suppose now that industrial society does survive the next several = +decade and that the bugs do=20 +eventually get worked out of the system, so that it functions smoothly. = +What kind of system will it be? We=20 +will consider several possibilities.=20 + +172. First let us postulate that the computer scientists succeed in = +developing intelligent machines that can=20 +do all things better that human beings can do them. In that case presumably = +all work will be done by vast,=20 +highly organized systems of machines and no human effort will be necessary. = +Eith er of two cases might=20 +occur. The machines might be permitted to make all of their own decisions = +without human oversight, or=20 +else human control over the machines might be retained.=20 + +173. If the machines are permitted to make all their own decisions, we = +can't make any conjectures as to the=20 +results, because it is impossible to guess how such machines might behave. = +We only point out that the fate=20 +of the human race would be at the merc y of the machines. It might be = +argued that the human race would=20 +never be foolish enough to hand over all the power to the machines. But we = +are suggesting neither that the=20 +human race would voluntarily turn power over to the machines nor that the = +machines would willfully seize=20 +power. What we do su ggest is that the human race might easily pe rmit = +itself to drift into a position of such=20 +dependence on the machines that it would have no practical choice but to = +accept all of the machines=20 +decisions.=20 +As society and the problems that face it become more and more complex and = +machines become more and=20 +more intelligent, people will let machines make more of their decision for = +them, simply because machine- +made decisions will bring better result than man-made ones. Eventually a = +stage may be reached at which=20 +the decisions necessary to keep the system running will be so complex that = +human beings wi ll be incapable=20 +of making them intelligently . At that stage the machines will be in = +effective control. People won't be able=20 +to just turn the machines off, because they will be so dependent on them = +that turning them off would=20 +amount to suicide.=20 + +174. On the other hand it is possible that human control over the machines = +may be retained. In that case the=20 +average man may have control over certain private machines of his own, such = +as his car of his personal=20 +computer, but control over large systems of machines will be in the hands = +of a tiny e lite -- just as it is=20 +today, but with two difference. Due to improved techniques the elite will = +have greater control over the=20 +masses; and because human work will no longer be necessary the masses will = +be superfluous, a useless=20 +burden on the system. If t he elite is ruthless the may simply decide t o = +exterminate the mass of humanity.=20 +If they are humane they may use propaganda or other psychological or = +biological techniques to reduce the=20 +birth rate until=20 +the mass of humanity becomes extinct, leaving the world to the elite. Or, = +if the elite consist of soft-hearted=20 +liberals, they may decide to play the role of good shepherds to the rest of = +the human race. They will see to=20 +it that everyone's physical needs are satisfied, that all children are = +raised under psychologically hygienic=20 +conditions, that everyone has a wholesome hobby to keep him busy , and that = +anyone who may become=20 +dissatisfie d undergoes "treatment" to cure his "problem." Of course, life = +will be so purposeless that people=20 +will have to be biologically or psychologically engineered either to remove = +their need for the power=20 +process or to make them "sublimate" their drive for pow er into some = +harmless hobby. These engineer ed=20 +human beings=20 +may be happy in such a society, but they most certainly will not be free. = +They will have been reduced to=20 +the status of domestic animals.=20 + +175. But suppose now that the computer scientists do not succeed in = +developing artificial intelligence, so=20 +that human work remains necessary. Even so, machines will take care of more = +and more of the simpler=20 +tasks so that there will be an increasing surp lus of human workers at the = +lower levels of ability. (We see=20 +this happening already. There are many people who find it difficult or = +impossible to get work, because for=20 +intellectual or psychological reasons they cannot acquire the level of = +training necessary to make themselves=20 +useful in the presen t system.) On those who are employed, ever- increasing = +demands will be placed; They=20 +will need more and m ore training, more and more ability, and will have to = +be ever more reliable,=20 +conforming and docile,=20 +because they will be more and more like cells of a giant organism. Their = +tasks will be incre asingly=20 +specialized so that their work will be, in a sense, out of touch with the = +real world, being concentrated on=20 +one tiny slice of reality. The system will have to use any means that I = +can, whether psychological or=20 +biological, to engineer people to be docile, to have the abilities that the = +syst em requires and to "sublimate"=20 +their drive f or power into some specialized task. But the statement that = +the people of such a society will=20 +have to be docile may require qualification. The society may find = +competitiveness useful, provided that=20 +ways are found of directing competitiveness into channe ls that serve that = +needs of the system. We can=20 +imagine=20 +into channels that serve the needs of the system. We can imagine a future = +society in which there is endless=20 +competition for positions of prestige an power. But no more than a very few = +people will ever reach the top,=20 +where the only real power is (see end of paragraph 163). Very repell ent is = +a society in which a person can=20 +satisfy his needs for power only by pushing large numbers of other people = +out of the way and depriving=20 +them of THEIR opportunity for power.=20 + +176. Once can envision scenarios that incorporate aspects of more than one = +of the possibilities that we have=20 +just discussed. For instance, it may be that machines will take over most = +of the work that is of real,=20 +practical importance, but that human bei ngs will be kept busy by being = +given relativ ely unimportant=20 +work. It has been suggested, for example, that a great development of the = +service of industries might=20 +provide work for human beings. Thus people will would spend their time = +shinning each others shoes,=20 +driving each other around inn taxica b, making handicrafts for one another, = +waiti ng on each other's tables,=20 +etc. This seems to us a thoroughly contemptible way for the human race to = +end up, and we doubt that many=20 +people would find=20 +fulfilling lives in such pointless busy-work. They would seek other, = +dangerous outlets (drugs, , crime,=20 +"cults," hate groups) unless they were biol ogical or psychologically = +engineered to adapt them to such a=20 +way of life.=20 + +177. Needless to day, the scenarios outlined above do not exhaust all the = +possibilities. They only indicate=20 +the kinds of outcomes that seem to us mots likely. But wee can envision no = +plausible scenarios that are any=20 +more palatable that the ones we've j ust described. It is overwhelmingly = +probabl e that if the industrial- +technological system survives the next 40 to 100 years, it will by that = +time have developed certain general=20 +characteristics: Individuals (at least those of the "bourgeois" type, who = +are integrated into the system and=20 +make it run, and who therefore have all the power) will b e more dependent = +than ever on large=20 +organizations; they will be more "socialized" that ever and their physical = +and mental qualities to a=20 +significant=20 +extent (possibly to a very great extent ) will be those that are engineered = +into them rather than being th e=20 +results of chance (or of God's will, or wh atever); and whatever may be = +left of wild nature will be reduced=20 +to remnants preserved for scientific study and kept under the supervision = +and management of scientists=20 +(hence it will no longer be truly wild). In the long run (say a few = +centuries from no w) it is it is likely that=20 +neither the human race nor any other important organisms will exist as we = +know them today, because once=20 +you start modifying organisms through genetic engineering there is no = +reason to stop at any particular=20 +point, so that the modifications will probably continue until man and other = +organisms have been utterly=20 +trans formed.=20 + +178. Whatever else may be the case, it is certain that technology is = +creating for human begins a new=20 +physical and social environment radically different from the spectrum of = +environments to which natural=20 +selection has adapted the human race physically an d psychological. If man = +is not adjust to th is new=20 +environment by being artificially re-engineered, then he will be adapted to = +it through a long an painful=20 +process of natural selection. The former is far more likely that the = +latter.=20 + +179. It would be better to dump the whole stinking system and take the = +consequences.=20 + +STRATEGY + +180. The technophiles are taking us all on an utterly reckless ride into = +the unknown. Many people=20 +understand something of what technological progress is doing to us yet take = +a passive attitude toward it=20 +because they think it is inevitable. But we (FC) don't think it is = +inevitable. We think it c an be stopped, and=20 +we will give here some indications of how to go about stopping it.=20 + +181. As we stated in paragraph 166, the two main tasks for the present are = +to promote social stress and=20 +instability in industrial society and to develop and propagate an ideology = +that opposes technology and the=20 +industrial system. When the system become s sufficiently stressed and = +unstable, a revo lution against=20 +technology may be possible. The pattern would be similar to that of the = +French and Russian Revolutions.=20 +French society and Russian society, for several decades prior to their = +respective revolutions, showed=20 +increasing signs of stress and w eakness. Meanwhile, ideologies were being = +d eveloped that offered a new=20 +world view that was quite different from the old one. In the Russian case, = +revolutionaries were actively=20 +working to undermine=20 +the old order. Then, when the old system was put under sufficient = +additional stress (by financial c risis in=20 +France, by military defeat in Russi a) it was swept away by revolution. = +What we propose in something=20 +along the same lines.=20 + +182. It will be objected that the French and Russian Revolutions were = +failures. But most revolutions have=20 +two goals. One is to destroy an old form of society and the other is to set = +up the new form of society=20 +envisioned by the revolutionaries. The Fre nch and Russian revolutionaries = +failed (fort unately!) to create=20 +the new kind of society of which they dreamed, but they were quite = +successful in destroying the existing=20 +form of society.=20 + +183. But an ideology, in order to gain enthusiastic support, must have a = +positive ideals well as a negative=20 +one; it must be FOR something as well as AGAINST something. The positive = +ideal that we propose is=20 +Nature. That is , WILD nature; those aspects o f the functioning of the = +Earth and its livin g things that are=20 +independent of human management and free of human interference and control. = +And with wild nature we=20 +include human nature, by which we mean those aspects of the functioning of = +the human individual that are=20 +not subject to regulation by o rganized society but are products of chance, = +or free will, or God (depending=20 +on your religious or philosophical opinions).=20 + +184. Nature makes a perfect counter-ideal to technology for several = +reasons. Nature (that which is outside=20 +the power of the system) is the opposite of technology (which seeks to = +expand indefinitely the power of the=20 +system). Most people will agree that nature is beautiful; certainly it has = +treme ndous popular appeal. The=20 +radical environmentalists ALREADY hold an ideology that exalts nature and = +opposes technology. [30] It is=20 +not necessary for the sake of nature to set up some chimerical utopia or = +any new kind of social order.=20 +Nature takes care of itself: It was a spontaneous creation th at existed = +long before any human society, and=20 +for countless centuries many different kinds of human societies coexisted = +with nature without doing it an=20 +excessive amount of damage. Only with the Industrial Revolution did the = +effect of human society on nat=20 +ure become really devastating. To relieve t he pressure on nature it is not = +necessary to create a special kind=20 +of social system, it is only necessary to get rid of industrial society. = +Granted, this will not solve all=20 +problems. Industrial society has already done tremendous damage to nature = +and i t will take a very long=20 +time for the scars t o heal. Besides, even pre-industrial societies can do = +significant damage to nature.=20 +Nevertheless, getting rid of industrial society will accomplish a great = +deal. It will relieve the worst of the=20 +pressure on nature so that the scars can begin to heal. It will remove the = +capacity of organized soc iety=20 +to keep increasing its control over nature (including human nature). = +Whatever kind of society may exist=20 +after the demise of the industrial system, it is certain that most people = +will live close to nature, because in=20 +the absence of advanced technolog y there is not other way that people CAN = +liv e. To feed themselves they=20 +must be peasants or herdsmen or fishermen or hunter, etc., And, generally = +speaking, local autonomy should=20 +tend to increase, because lack of advanced technology and rapid = +communications will limit the capacity of=20 +governments o r other large organizations to control local communities. = + + +185. As for the negative consequences of eliminating industrial society -- = +well, you can't eat your cake and=20 +have it too. To gain one thing you have to sacrifice another.=20 + +186. Most people hate psychological conflict. For this reason they avoid = +doing any serious thinking about=20 +difficult social issues, and they like to have such issues presented to = +them in simple, black-and-white terms:=20 +THIS is all good and THAT is all bad. The revolutionary ideology should = +therefore be developed on two=20 +levels.=20 + +187. On the more sophisticated level the ideology should address itself to = +people who are intelligent,=20 +thoughtful and rational. The object should be to create a core of people = +who will be opposed to the=20 +industrial system on a rational, thought-out basis, with full appreciation = +of the problems and ambiguities=20 +involved, and of the price that has to be paid for getting rid of the = +system. It is particularly important to=20 +attract people of this type, as they are capable people and will be = +instrumental in influencing others. These=20 +people should be addres sed on as rational a level as possible. Fact s = +should never intentionally be distorted=20 +and intemperate language should be avoided. This does not mean that no = +appeal can be made to the=20 +emotions,=20 +but in making such appeal care should be taken to avoid misrepresenting the = +truth or doing anything else t=20 +hat would destroy the intellectual respectab ility of the ideology. = + + +188. On a second level, the ideology should be propagated in a simplified = +form that will enable the=20 +unthinking majority to see the conflict of technology vs. nature in = +unambiguous terms. But even on this=20 +second level the ideology should not be expressed in language that is so = +cheap, intemperate or irrational=20 +that it alienates people of the thoughtful and rational type. Cheap, = +intemperate propaganda sometimes=20 +achieves impressive short-term gains, but it will be more advantageous in = +the long run to keep the loyalty=20 +of a small number of intelligently committed people than to arouse the = +passion s of an unthinking, fickle=20 +mob who will change their attitude as soon as someone comes along with a = +better propaganda gimmick.=20 +However, propaganda of the=20 +rabble-rousing type may be necessary when the system is nearing the point = +of collapse and there is a final=20 +struggle between rival ideologies to d etermine which will become dominant = +when the old world-view goes=20 +under.=20 + +189. Prior to that final struggle, the revolutionaries should not expect to = +have a majority of people on their=20 +side. History is made by active, determined minorities, not by the = +majority, which seldom has a clear and=20 +consistent idea of what it really wan ts. Until the time comes for the = +final push toward revolution [31], the=20 +task of revolutionaries will be less to win the shallow support of the = +majority than to build a small core of=20 +deeply committed people. As for the majority, it will be enough to make = +them aware of the existence of the=20 +new ideolo gy and remind them of it frequently; though of course it will be = +desirable to get majority=20 +support to the extent that this can be done without weakening the core of = +seriously committed people.=20 + +190. Any kind of social conflict helps to destabilize the system, but one = +should be careful about what kind=20 +of conflict one encourages. The line of conflict should be drawn between = +the mass of the people and the=20 +power-holding elite of industrial society ( politicians, scientists, = +upper-level busines s executives,=20 +government officials, etc..). It should NOT be drawn between the = +revolutionaries and the mass of the=20 +people. For example, it would be bad strategy for the revolutionaries to = +condemn Americans for their=20 +habits of consumption. Instead, the ave rage American should be portrayed = +as a victi m of the advertising=20 +and marketing industry, which has suckered him into buying a lot of junk = +that he doesn't need and that is=20 +very poor compensation +for his lost freedom. Either approach is consistent with the facts. It is = +merely a matter of attitude whether=20 +you blame the advertising industry for manipulating the public or blame the = +public for allowing itself to be=20 +manipulated. As a matter of strategy one should generally avoid blaming the = +public.=20 + +191. One should think twice before encouraging any other social conflict = +than that between the power- +holding elite (which wields technology) and the general public (over which = +technology exerts its power).=20 +For one thing, other conflicts tend to distract attention from the = +important conflicts (betw een power-elite=20 +and ordinary people, between technology and nature); for another thing, = +other conflicts may actually tend=20 +to encourage technologization, because each side in such a conflict wants = +to use technological power to=20 +gain advantages over its adve rsary. This is clearly seen in rivalries bet = +ween nations. It also appears in=20 +ethnic conflicts within nations. For example, in America many black leaders = +are anxious to gain power for=20 +African=20 +Americans by placing back individuals in the technological power-elite. = +They want there to be many black=20 +gov ernment officials, scientists, corporation e xecutives and so forth. In = +this way they are helping to=20 +absorb the African American subculture into the technological system. = +Generally speaking, one should=20 +encourage only those social conflicts that can be fitted into the framework = +of the conflicts of po wer--elite=20 +vs. ordinary people, technology v s nature.=20 + +192. But the way to discourage ethnic conflict is NOT through militant = +advocacy of minority rights (see=20 +paragraphs 21, 29). Instead, the revolutionaries should emphasize that = +although minorities do suffer more=20 +or less disadvantage, this disadvantage is o f peripheral significance. Our = +real enemy is the industrial- +technological system, and in the struggle against the system, ethnic = +distinctions are of no importance.=20 + +193. The kind of revolution we have in mind will not necessarily involve an = +armed uprising against any=20 +government. It may or may not involve physical violence, but it will not be = +a POLITICAL revolution. Its=20 +focus will be on technology and economics, not politics. [32]=20 + +194. Probably the revolutionaries should even AVOID assuming political = +power, whether by legal or=20 +illegal means, until the industrial system is stressed to the danger point = +and has proved itself to be a failure=20 +in the eyes of most people. Suppose for exa mple that some "green" party = +should win cont rol of the United=20 +States Congress in an election. In order to avoid betraying or watering = +down their own ideology they would=20 +have to take vigorous measures to turn economic growth into economic = +shrinkage. To the average man the=20 +results would appear disast rous: There would be massive unemployment, s = +hortages of commodities, etc.=20 +Even if the grosser ill effects could be avoided through superhumanly = +skillful management, still people=20 +would have=20 +to begin giving up the luxuries to which they have become addicted. = +Dissatisfaction would grow, the=20 +"green" pa rty would be voted out of of fice and the re volutionaries would = +have suffered a severe setback.=20 +For this reason the revolutionaries should not try to acquire political = +power until the system has gotten=20 +itself into such a mess that any hardships will be seen as resulting from = +the failures of the ind ustrial system=20 +itself and not from the polic ies of the revolutionaries. The revolution = +against technology will probably=20 +have to be a revolution by outsiders, a revolution from below and not from = +above.=20 + +195. The revolution must be international and worldwide. It cannot be = +carried out on a nation-by-nation=20 +basis. Whenever it is suggested that the United States, for example, should = +cut back on technological=20 +progress or economic growth, people get hysteric al and start screaming = +that if we fall behin d in=20 +technology the Japanese will get ahead of us. Holy robots The world will = +fly off its orbit if the Japanese=20 +ever sell more cars than we do! (Nationalism is a great promoter of = +technology.) More reasonably, it is=20 +argued that if the relatively democrati c nations of the world fall behind = +in techno logy while nasty,=20 +dictatorial nations like China, Vietnam and North Korea continue to = +progress, eventually the dictators may=20 +come to dominate the world.=20 +That is why the industrial system should be attacked in all nations = +simultaneously, to the extent that this=20 +may be possible. True, there is no ass urance that the industrial system = +can be destroyed at approximately=20 +the same time all over the world, and it is even conceivable that the = +attempt to overthrow the system could=20 +lead instead to the domination of the system by dictators. That is a risk = +that has to be taken. And it is worth=20 +taking, sin ce the difference between a "democratic" industrial system and = +one controlled by dictators is=20 +small compared with the difference between an industrial system and a = +non-industrial one. [33] It might=20 +even be argued that an industrial system controlled by di ctators would be = +preferable, because dictato=20 +r-controlled systems usually have proved inefficient, hence they are = +presumably more likely to break down.=20 +Look at Cuba.=20 + +196. Revolutionaries might consider favoring measures that tend to bind the = +world economy into a unified=20 +whole. Free trade agreements like NAFTA and GATT are probably harmful to = +the environment in the short=20 +run, but in the long run they may perhaps be ad vantageous because they = +foster economic inte rdependence=20 +between nations. I will be eaier to destroy the industrial system on a = +worldwide basis if he world economy=20 +is so unified that its breakdown in any on major nation will lead to its = +breakdwon in al industrialized=20 +nations.=20 + +the long run they may perhaps be advantageous because they foster economic = +interdependence between=20 +nations. It will be easier to destroy the industrial system on a worldwide = +basis if the world economy is so=20 +unified that its breakdown in any one major nat ion will lead to its = +breakdown in all indust rialized nations. + +197. Some people take the line that modern man has too much power, too much = +control over nature; they=20 +argue for a more passive attitude on the part of the human race. At best = +these people are expressing=20 +themselves unclearly, because they fail to distingu ish between power for = +LARGE ORGANIZATIONS an=20 +d power for INDIVIDUALS and SMALL GROUPS. It is a mistake to argue for = +powerlessness and=20 +passivity, because people NEED power. Modern man as a collective = +entity--that is, the industrial system-- +has immense power over nature, and we (FC) regard this as e vil. But modern = +INDIVIDUALS and=20 +SMALL GROUP S OF INDIVIDUALS have far less power than primitive man ever = +did. Generally=20 +speaking, the vast power of "modern man" over nature is exercised not = + +by individuals or small groups but by large organizations. To the extent = +that the average modern=20 +INDIVIDUAL can wield the power of technology, he is pe rmitted to do so = +only within narrow limits and=20 +only under the supervision and control of the system. (You need a license = +for everything and with the=20 +license come rules and regulations). The individual has only those = +technological powers with which the s=20 +ystem chooses to provide him. His PERSONAL power over nature is = +slight. + +198. Primitive INDIVIDUALS and SMALL GROUPS actually had considerable power = +over nature; or=20 +maybe it would be better to say power WITHIN nature. When primitive man = +needed food he knew how to=20 +find and prepare edible roots, how to track game and take it wi th homemade = +weapons. He knew how to=20 +protect himself from heat, cold, rain, dangerous animals, etc. But = +primitive man did relatively little damage=20 +to nature because the COLLECTIVE power of primitive society was negligible = +compared to the=20 +COLLECTIVE power of industrial society. + +199. Instead of arguing for powerlessness and passivity, one should argue = +that the power of the=20 +INDUSTRIAL SYSTEM should be broken, and that this will greatly INCREASE the = +power and freedom=20 +of INDIVIDUALS and SMALL GROUPS. + +200. Until the industrial system has been thoroughly wrecked, the = +destruction of that system must be the=20 +revolutionaries' ONLY goal. Other goals would distract attention and energy = +from the main goal. More=20 +importantly, if the revolutionaries permit themse lves to have any other = +goal than the destruc tion of=20 +technology, they will be tempted to use technology as a tool for reaching = +that other goal. If they give in to=20 +that temptation, they will fall right back into the technological trap, = +because modern technology is a=20 +unified, tightly organized system, so that, in order to retain SOME = +technology , one finds oneself obliged=20 +to retain MOST technology, hence one ends up sacrificing only token amounts = +of technology. + +201. Suppose for example that the revolutionaries took "social justice" as = +a goal. Human nature being what=20 +it is, social justice would not come about spontaneously; it would have to = +be enforced. In order to enforce it=20 +the revolutionaries would have to ret ain central organization and control. = +For th at they would need rapid=20 +long-distance transportation and communication, and therefore all the = +technology needed to support the=20 +transportation and communication systems. To feed and clothe poor people = +they would have to use=20 +agricultural and manufacturing technology. And so forth. So that the attemp = +t to insure social justice would=20 +force them to retain most parts of the technological system. Not that we = +have anything against social=20 +justice,=20 +but it must not be allowed to interfere with the effort to get rid of the = +technological system. + +202. It would be hopeless for revolutionaries to try to attack the system = +without using SOME modern=20 +technology. If nothing else they must use the communications media to = +spread their message. But they=20 +should use modern technology for only ONE purpose: to attack the = +technological system. + +203. Imagine an alcoholic sitting with a barrel of wine in front of him. = +Suppose he starts saying to himself,=20 +"Wine isn't bad for you if used in moderation. Why, they say small amounts = +of wine are even good for you!=20 +It won't do me any harm if I take just one little drink..." Well you know = +what is g oing to happen. Never=20 +forget that the human race with technology is just like an alcoholic with a = +barrel of wine. + +204. Revolutionaries should have as many children as they can. There is = +strong scientific evidence that=20 +social attitudes are to a significant extent inherited. No one suggests = +that a social attitude is a direct=20 +outcome of a person's genetic constitution, but it appears that personality = +traits tend , within the context of=20 +our society, to make a person more likely to hold this or that social = +attitude. Objections to these findings=20 +have been raised, but objections are feeble and seem to be ideologically = +motivated. In any event, no one=20 +denies that child ren tend on the average to hold social attit udes similar = +to those of their parents. From our=20 +point of view it doesn't matter all that much whether the attitudes are = +passed on genetically or through=20 +childhood training. In either case the ARE passed on. + +205. The trouble is that many of the people who are inclined to rebel = +against the industrial system are also=20 +concerned about the population problems, hence they are apt to have few or = +no children. In this way they=20 +may be handing the world over to the sort of people who support or at least = +accept th e industrial system.=20 +To insure the strength of the next generation of revolutionaries the = +present generation must reproduce itself=20 +abundantly. In doing so they will be worsening the population problem only = +slightly. And the most=20 +important problem is to ge t rid of the industrial system, because once the = +industrial system is gone the=20 +world's population necessarily will decrease (see paragraph 167); whereas, = +if the industrial system survives,=20 +it will continue developing new techniques of food production that may = +enable the world's population to=20 +keep i ncreasing almost indefinitely. + +206. With regard to revolutionary strategy, the only points on which we = +absolutely insist are that the single=20 +overriding goal must be the elimination of modern technology, and that no = +other goal can be allowed to=20 +compete with this one. For the rest, revol utionaries should take an = +empirical approach . If experience=20 +indicates that some of the recommendations made in the foregoing paragraphs = +are not going to give good=20 +results, then those recommendations should be discarded. + + + +TWO KINDS OF TECHNOLOGY + +207. An argument likely to be raised against our proposed revolution is = +that it is bound to fail, because (it is=20 +claimed) throughout history technology has always progressed, never = +regressed, hence technological=20 +regression is impossible. But this claim is false. + +208. We distinguish between two kinds of technology, which we will call = +small-scale technology and=20 +organization-dependent technology. Small-scale technology is technology = +that can be used by small-scale=20 +communities without outside assistance. Organization -dependent technology = +is technology that de pends=20 +on large-scale social organization. We are aware of no significant cases of = +regression in small-scale=20 +technology. But organization-dependent technology DOES regress when the = +social organization on which=20 +it depends breaks down. Example: When the Roma n Empire fell apart the = +Romans' small-scale technology=20 +survived because any clever village craftsman could build, for instance, a = +water wheel, any skilled smith=20 +could make steel by Roman methods,=20 +and so forth. But the Romans' organization-dependent technology DID = +regress. Their aqueducts fell into=20 +disrepair and were never rebuilt.=20 +Their tech niques of road construction were lost. The Roman system of urban = +sanitation was forgotten, so=20 +that until rather recent times did the sanitation of European cities that = +of Ancient Rome. + +209. The reason why technology has seemed always to progress is that, until = +perhaps a century or two=20 +before the Industrial Revolution, most technology was small-scale = +technology. But most of the technology=20 +developed since the Industrial Revolution is orga nization-dependent = +technology. Take the refr igerator for=20 +example. Without factory-made parts or the facilities of a post-industrial = +machine shop it would be=20 +virtually impossible for a handful of local craftsmen to build a = +refrigerator. If by some miracle they did=20 +succeed in building one it would be useless to them without a reliable = +source o f electric power. So they=20 +would have to dam a stream and build a generator. Generators require large = +amounts of copper wire.=20 +Imagine trying to make that=20 +wire without modern machinery. And where would they get a gas suitable for = +refrigeration? It would be=20 +much easier to build an icehouse or preserve food by drying or picking, as = +was done before the invention=20 +of the refrigerator. + +210. So it is clear that if the industrial system were once thoroughly = +broken down, refrigeration technology=20 +would quickly be lost. The same is true of other organization-dependent = +technology. And once this=20 +technology had been lost for a generation or so it would take centuries to = +rebuild it, just as it took centuries=20 +to build it the first time around. Surviving technical books would be few = +and scattered. An industrial=20 +society, if built from scratch without outside help, can only be built in a = +series of stages: You need tools to=20 +make tools to make tools to make tools ... . A long process of economic = +development and progress in social=20 +organization is required. And, even in the absence of an ideology opposed = +to technology, there is no reason=20 +to believe that anyone would be interested in rebuilding industrial = +society. The enthusiasm for "progre ss"=20 +is a phenomenon particular to the modern form of society, and it seems not = +to have existed prior to the 17th=20 +century or thereabouts. + +211. In the late Middle Ages there were four main civilizations that were = +about equally "advanced":=20 +Europe, the Islamic world, India, and the Far East (China, Japan, Korea). = +Three of those civilizations=20 +remained more or less stable, and only Europe became dynamic. No one knows = +why Europe became dyn=20 +amic at that time; historians have their theories but these are only = +speculation. At any rate, it is clear that=20 +rapid development toward a technological form of society occurs only under = +special conditions. So there is=20 +no reason to assume that long-lastin g technological regression cannot be = +brought about. + +212. Would society EVENTUALLY develop again toward an = +industrial-technological form? Maybe, but=20 +there is no use in worrying about it, since we can't predict or control = +events 500 or 1,000 years in the=20 +future. Those problems must be dealt with by the peopl e who will live at = +that time. + + + +THE DANGER OF LEFTISM + +213. Because of their need for rebellion and for membership in a movement, = +leftists or persons of similar=20 +psychological type are often unattracted to a rebellious or activist = +movement whose goals and membership=20 +are not initially leftist. The resulting inf lux of leftish types can = +easily turn a non-l eftist movement into a=20 +leftist one, so that leftist goals replace or distort the original goals of = +the movement. + +214. To avoid this, a movement that exalts nature and opposes technology = +must take a resolutely anti-leftist=20 +stance and must avoid all collaboration with leftists. Leftism is in the = +long run inconsistent with wild=20 +nature, with human freedom and with the e limination of modern technology. = +Leftism is collectivist; it=20 +seeks to bind together the entire world (both nature and the human race) = +into a unified whole. But this=20 +implies management of nature and of human life by organized society, and it = +requires advanced=20 +technology. You can't have a united worl d without rapid transportation and = +communica tion, you can't=20 +make all people love one another without sophisticated psychological = +techniques, you can't have a=20 +"planned society" without the necessary technological base.=20 +Above all, leftism is driven by the need for power, and the leftist seeks = +power o n a collective basis,=20 +through identification with a mass movement or an organization. Leftism is = +unlikely ever to give up=20 +technology, because technology is too valuable a source of collective = +power.=20 + +215. The anarchist [34] too seeks power, but he seeks it on an individual = +or small-group basis; he wants=20 +individuals and small groups to be able to control the circumstances of = +their own lives. He opposes=20 +technology because it makes small groups dependent on large = +organizations. + +216. Some leftists may seem to oppose technology, but they will oppose it = +only so long as they are=20 +outsiders and the technological system is controlled by non-leftists. If = +leftism ever becomes dominant in=20 +society, so that the technological system becomes a tool in the hands of = +leftists, they will e nthusiastically=20 +use it and promote its growth. In doing this they will be repeating a = +pattern that leftism has shown again=20 +and again in the past. When the Bolsheviks in Russia were outsiders, they = +vigorously opposed censorship=20 +and the secret police, they advocated self-determination for ethnic mino = +rities, and so forth;=20 +but as soon as they came into power themselves, they imposed a tighter = +censorship and created a more=20 +ruthless secret police than any that had existed under the tsars, and they = +oppressed ethnic minorities at least=20 +as much as the tsars had done. In the United States, a couple of decades = +ago when leftists were a minority=20 +in our universities, leftist professors were vigorous proponents of = +academic freedom, but today, in those=20 +universities where leftists have become dominant, they have shown = +themselves ready to take away from=20 +every one else's academic freedom. (This is "polit ical correctness.") The = +same will happen with leftists and=20 +technology: They will use it to oppress everyone else if they ever get it = +under their own control. + +217. In earlier revolutions, leftists of the most power-hungry type, = +repeatedly, have first cooperated with=20 +non-leftist revolutionaries, as well as with leftists of a more libertarian = +inclination, and later have double- +crossed them to seize power for them selves. Robespierre did this in the = +French R evolution, the Bolsheviks=20 +did it in the Russian Revolution, the communists did it in Spain in 1938 = +and Castro and his followers did it=20 +in Cuba. Given the past history of leftism, it would be utterly foolish for = +non-leftist revolutionaries today to=20 +collabo rate with leftists. + +218. Various thinkers have pointed out that leftism is a kind of religion. = +Leftism is not a religion in the=20 +strict sense because leftist doctrine does not postulate the existence of = +any supernatural being. But for the=20 +leftist, leftism plays a psychologica l role much like that which religion = +plays f or some people. The leftist=20 +NEEDS to believe in leftism; it plays a vital role in his psychological = +economy. His beliefs are not easily=20 +modified by logic or facts. He has a deep conviction that leftism is = +morally Right with a capital R, and that=20 +he has no t only a right but a duty to impose leftist morality on everyone. = +(However, many of the people we=20 +are referring to as "leftists" do not think of themselves as leftists and = +would not describe=20 +their system of beliefs as leftism. We use the term "leftism" because we = +don't know of any better words to=20 +d esignate the spectrum of related creeds that includes the feminist, gay = +rights, political correctness, etc.,=20 +movements, and because these movements have a strong affinity with the old = +left. See paragraphs 227- +230.) + +219. Leftism is totalitarian force. Wherever leftism is in a position of = +power it tends to invade every private=20 +corner and force every thought into a leftist mold. In part this is because = +of the quasi-religious character of=20 +leftism; everything contrary to leftists beliefs represents Sin. More impor = +tantly, leftism is a totalitarian=20 +force because of the leftists' drive for power. The leftist seeks to = +satisfy his need for power through=20 +identification with a social movement and he tries to go through the power = +process by helping to pursue=20 +and attain th e goals of the movement (see paragraph 83). But no matter how = +far the movement has gone in=20 +attaining its goals the leftist is never satisfied, because his activism is = +a surrogate activity (see paragraph=20 +41).=20 +That is, the leftist's real motive is not to attain the ostensible goals of = +leftism; in rea lity he is motivated by=20 +the sense of power h e gets from struggling for and then reaching a social = +goal.[35] + +Consequently the leftist is never satisfied with the goals he has already = +attained; his need for the power=20 +process leads him always to pursue some new goal. The leftist wants equal = +opportunities for minorities.=20 +When that is attained he insists on statisti cal equality of achievement by = +minorities. A nd as long as=20 +anyone harbors in some corner of his mind a negative attitude toward some = +minority, the leftist has to=20 +re-educated him. And ethnic minorities are not enough; no one can be = +allowed to have a negative attitude=20 +toward homosexuals, disabled peop le, fat people, old people, ugly people, = +and on and on and on. It's not=20 +enough that the public should be informed about the hazards of smoking; a = +warning has to be stamped on=20 +every package of cigarettes.=20 +Then cigarette advertising has to be restricted if not banned. The = +activists will never be sati sfied until=20 +tobacco is outlawed, and after t hat it will be alco hot then junk food, = +etc. Activists have fought gross child=20 +abuse, which is reasonable. But now they want to stop all spanking. When = +they have done that they will=20 +want to ban something else they consider unwholesome, then another thing = +and then another. They will=20 +never be satisfi ed until they have complete control over all child rearing = +practices. And then they will=20 +move on to another cause.=20 + +220. Suppose you asked leftists to make a list of ALL the things that were = +wrong with society, and then=20 +suppose you instituted EVERY social change that they demanded. It is safe = +to say that within a couple of=20 +years the majority of leftists would find some thing new to complain about, = +some new social "evil" to=20 +correct because, once again, the leftist is motivated less by distress at = +society's ills than by the need to=20 +satisfy his drive for power by imposing his solutions on society.=20 + +221. Because of the restrictions placed on their thoughts and behavior by = +their high level of socialization,=20 +many leftists of the over-socialized type cannot pursue power in the ways = +that other people do. For them=20 +the drive for power has only one morally acceptable outlet, and that is in = +the strugg le to impose their=20 +morality on everyone.=20 + +222. Leftists, especially those of the oversocialized type, are True = +Believers in the sense of Eric Hoffer's=20 +book, "The True Believer." But not all True Believers are of the same = +psychological type as leftists.=20 +Presumably a truebelieving nazi, for instanc e is very different = +psychologically from a t ruebelieving leftist.=20 +Because of their capacity for single-minded devotion to a cause, True = +Believers are a useful, perhaps a=20 +necessary, ingredient of any revolutionary movement. This presents a = +problem with which we must admit=20 +we don't know how to deal. We aren't sure how to harness the energies o f = +the True Believer to a revolution=20 +against technology. At present all we can say is that no True Believer will = +make a safe recruit to the=20 +revolution=20 +unless his commitment is exclusively to the destruction of technology. If = +he is committed also to another=20 +ideal, he may want to use technology as a t ool for pursuing that other = +ideal (see paragraphs 220, 221). + +223. Some readers may say, "This stuff about leftism is a lot of crap. I = +know John and Jane who are leftish=20 +types and they don't have all these totalitarian tendencies." It's quite = +true that many leftists, possibly even a=20 +numerical majority, are decent pe ople who sincerely believe in tolerating = +oth ers' values (up to a point) and=20 +wouldn't want to use high-handed methods to reach their social goals. Our = +remarks about leftism are not=20 +meant to apply to every individual leftist but to describe the general = +character of leftism as a movement.=20 +And the gene ral character of a movement is not necessari ly determined by = +the numerical proportions of=20 +the various kinds of people involved in the movement.=20 + +224. The people who rise to positions of power in leftist movements tend to = +be leftists of the most power- +hungry type because power-hungry people are those who strive hardest to get = +into positions of power.=20 +Once the power-hungry types have captured contro l of the movement, there = +are many leftists o f a gentler=20 +breed who inwardly disapprove of many of the actions of the leaders, but = +cannot bring themselves to=20 +oppose them. They NEED their faith in the movement, and because they cannot = +give up this faith they go=20 +along with the leaders. True, SOME lefti sts do have the guts to oppose the = +totalitar ian tendencies that=20 +emerge, but they generally lose, because the power-hungry types are better = +organized, are more ruthless=20 +and Machiavellian and have taken care to build themselves a strong power = +base.=20 + +225. These phenomena appeared clearly in Russia and other countries that = +were taken over by leftists.=20 +Similarly, before the breakdown of communism in the USSR, leftish types in = +the West would seldom=20 +criticize that country. If prodded they would admit that the USSR did many = +wrong things, but then th ey=20 +would try to find excuses for the communists and begin talking about the = +faults of the West. They always=20 +opposed Western military resistance to communist aggression. Leftish types = +all over the world vigorously=20 +protested the U.S. military action in Viet nam, but when the USSR invaded = +Afghanistan t hey did nothing.=20 +Not that they approved of the Soviet actions; but because of their leftist = +faith, they just couldn't bear to put=20 +themselves in opposition to communism.=20 +Today, in those of our universities where "political correctness" has = +become dominant, there are probably=20 +many leftish types who p rivately disapprove of the suppression of academic = +freedom, but they go along=20 +with it anyway.=20 + +226. Thus the fact that many individual leftists are personally mild and = +fairly tolerant people by no means=20 +prevents leftism as a whole form having a totalitarian tendency.=20 + +227. Our discussion of leftism has a serious weakness. It is still far from = +clear what we mean by the word=20 +"leftist." There doesn't seem to be much we can do about this. Today = +leftism is fragmented into a whole=20 +spectrum of activist movements. Yet not all activist movements are leftist, = +and some act ivist movements=20 +(e.g.., radical environmentalism) seem to include both personalities of the = +leftist type and personalities of=20 +thoroughly un-leftist types who ought to know better than to collaborate = +with leftists. Varieties of leftists=20 +fade out gradually into varieties of non-leftists and we oursel ves would = +often be hard-pressed to decide=20 +whether a given individual is or is not a leftist. To the extent that it is = +defined at all, our conception of=20 +leftism=20 +is defined by the discussion of it that we have given in this article, and = +we can only advise t he reader to=20 +use his own judgment in decidin g who is a leftist.=20 + +228. But it will be helpful to list some criteria for diagnosing leftism. = +These criteria cannot be applied in a=20 +cut and dried manner. Some individuals may meet some of the criteria = +without being leftists, some leftists=20 +may not meet any of the criteria. Ag ain, you just have to use your = +judgment. + +229. The leftist is oriented toward largescale collectivism. He emphasizes = +the duty of the individual to=20 +serve society and the duty of society to take care of the individual. He = +has a negative attitude toward=20 +individualism. He often takes a moralistic ton e. He tends to be for gun = +control, for sex e ducation and=20 +other psychologically "enlightened" educational methods, for planning, for = +affirmative action, for=20 +multiculturalism. He tends to identify with victims. He tends to be against = +competition and against=20 +violence, but he often finds excuses for th ose leftists who do commit = +violence. He is f ond of using the=20 +common catch-phrases of the left like "racism, " "sexism, " "homophobia, " = +"capitalism," "imperialism,"=20 +"neocolonialism " "genocide,"=20 +"social change," "social justice," "social responsibility." Maybe the best = +diagnostic trait of the leftist is his=20 +tendency to sympathize with the following movements: feminism, gay rights, = +ethnic rights, disabi lity=20 +rights, animal rights political correct ness. Anyone who strongly = +sympathizes with ALL of these=20 +movements is almost certainly a leftist. [36]=20 + +230. The more dangerous leftists, that is, those who are most power-hungry, = +are often characterized by=20 +arrogance or by a dogmatic approach to ideology. However, the most = +dangerous leftists of all may be=20 +certain oversocialized types who avoid irritating di splays of = +aggressiveness and refrain from ad vertising=20 +their leftism, but work quietly and unobtrusively to promote collectivist = +values, "enlightened"=20 +psychological techniques for socializing children, dependence of the = +individual on the system, and so forth.=20 +These crypto-leftists (as we may call th em) approximate certain bourgeois = +types as f ar as practical action=20 +is concerned, but differ from them in psychology, ideology and motivation. = +The ordinary bourgeois tries to=20 +bring people under control=20 +of the system in order to protect his way of life, or he does so simply = +because his attitudes are=20 +conventional. The crypto-leftist tries to br ing people under control of = +the system because he is a True=20 +Believer in a collectivistic ideology. The crypto-leftist is differentiated = +from the average leftist of the=20 +oversocialized type by the fact that his rebellious impulse is weaker and = +he is more se curely socialized. He=20 +is differentiated from the ordinary well-socialized bourgeois by the fact = +that there is some deep lack within=20 +him that makes it necessary for him to devote himself to a cause and = +immerse himself in a collectivity. And=20 +maybe his (well-sublimated) drive for power is stronger tha n that of the = +average bourgeois. + +FINAL NOTE + +231. Throughout this article we've made imprecise statements and statements = +that ought to have had all=20 +sorts of qualifications and reservations attached to them; and some of our = +statements may be flatly false.=20 +Lack of sufficient information and the need f or brevity made it impossible = +for us to fomu late our=20 +assertions more precisely or add all the necessary qualifications. And of = +course in a discussion of this=20 + +kind one must rely heavily on intuitive judgment, and that can sometimes be = +wrong. So we don't claim that=20 +this article expresses more than a crude approximation to the truth. = + + +232. All the same we are reasonably confident that the general outlines of = +the picture we have painted here=20 +are roughly correct. We have portrayed leftism in its modern form as a = +phenomenon peculiar to our time=20 +and as a symptom of the disruption of the power process. But we might = +possibly be wrong about this.=20 +Oversocialized types who try to satisfy their drive for power by imposing = +their morality on everyone have=20 +certainly been around for a long time. But we THINK that the decisive role = +played by feelings of=20 +inferiority, low self-esteem, powerlessness, identification with victims by = +people who are not themselves=20 +victims, is a peculiarity of modern leftism. Identification with victims by = +people not themselves victims can=20 +be seen to some extent in=20 +19th century leftism and early Christianity but as far as we can make out, = +symptoms of low self-esteem,=20 +etc., were not nearly so evident in these movements, or in any other = +movements, as they are in modern=20 +leftism. But we are not in a position to assert confidently that no such = +movements have existed prior to=20 +modern leftism. This is a significant question to which historians ought to = +give their attention.=20 + +NOTES=20 + +1. (Paragraph 19) We are asserting that ALL, or even most, bullies and = +ruthless competitors suffer from=20 +feelings of inferiority.=20 + +2. (Paragraph 25) During the Victorian period many oversocialized people = +suffered from serious=20 +psychological problems as a result of repressing or trying to repress their = +sexual feelings. Freud apparently=20 +based his theories on people of this type. Today the focus of socialization = +has shifted from sex to=20 +aggression.=20 + +3. (Paragraph 27) Not necessarily including specialists in engineering = +"hard" sciences.=20 + +4. (Paragraph 28) There are many individuals of the middle and upper = +classes who resist some of these=20 +values, but usually their resistance is more or less covert. Such = +resistance appears in the mass media only to=20 +a very limited extent. The main thrust of propaganda in our society is in = +favor of the stated values.=20 + +The main reasons why these values have become, so to speak, the official = +values of our society is that they=20 +are useful to the industrial system. Violence is discouraged because it = +disrupts the functioning of the=20 +system. Racism is discouraged because ethnic conflicts also disrupt the = +system, and discrimination wastes=20 +the talent of minority-group members who could be useful to the system. = +Poverty must be "cured" because=20 +the underclass causes problems for the system and contact with the = +underclass lowers the moral of the other=20 +classes. Women are encouraged to have careers because their talents are = +useful to the system and, more=20 +importantly because by having regular jobs women become better integrated = +into the system and tied=20 +directly to it rather than to their families.=20 +This helps to weaken family solidarity. (The leaders of the system say they = +want to strengthen the family,=20 +but they really mean is that they want the family to serve as an effective = +tool for socializing children in=20 +accord with the needs of the system. We argue in paragraphs 51,52 that the = +system cannot afford to let the=20 +family or other small-scale social groups be strong or autonomous.) = + + +5. (Paragraph 42) It may be argued that the majority of people don't want = +to make their own decisions but=20 +want leaders to do their thinking for them. There is an element of truth in = +this. People like to make their=20 +own decisions in small matters, but making decisions on difficult, = +fundamental questions require facing up=20 +to psychological conflict, and most people hate psychological conflict. = +Hence they tend to lean on others in=20 +making difficult decisions. The majority of people are natural followers, = +not leaders, but they like to have=20 +direct personal access to their leaders and participate to some extent in = +making difficult decisions. At least=20 +to that degree they need autonomy.=20 + +6. (Paragraph 44) Some of the symptoms listed are similar to those shown by = +caged animals.=20 + +To explain how these symptoms arise from deprivation with respect to the = +power process:=20 + +Common-sense understanding of human nature tells one that lack of goals = +whose attainment requires effort=20 +leads to boredom and that boredom, long continued, often leads eventually = +to depression. Failure to obtain=20 +goals leads to frustration and lowering of self-esteem. Frustration leads = +to anger, anger to aggression, often=20 +in the form of spouse or child abuse. It has been shown that long-continued = +frustration commonly leads to=20 +depression and that depression tends to cause guilt, sleep disorders, = +eating disorders and bad feelings about=20 +oneself. Those who are tending toward depression seek pleasure as an = +antidote; hence insatiable hedonism=20 +and excessive sex, with perversions as a means of getting new kicks. = +Boredom too tends to cause excessive=20 +pleasure-seeking since,=20 +lacking other goals, people often use pleasure as a goal. See accompanying = +diagram. The foregoing is a=20 +simplification. Reality is more complex, and of course deprivation with = +respect to the power process is not=20 +the ONLY cause of the symptoms described. By the way, when we mention = +depression we do not=20 +necessarily mean depression that is severe enough to be treated by a = +psychiatrist. Often only mild forms of=20 +depression are involved. And when we speak of goals we do not necessarily = +mean long-term, thought out=20 +goals. For many or most people through much of human history, the goals of = +a hand-to-mouth existence=20 +(merely providing oneself and one's family with food from day to day) have = +been quite sufficient.=20 + +7. (Paragraph 52) A partial exception may be made for a few passive, inward = +looking groups, such as the=20 +Amish, which have little effect on the wider society. Apart from these, = +some genuine small-scale=20 +communities do exist in America today. For instance, youth gangs and = +"cults". Everyone regards them as=20 +dangerous, and so they are, because the members of these groups are loyal = +primarily to one another rather=20 +than to the system, hence the system cannot control them. Or take the = +gypsies. The gypsies commonly get=20 +away with theft and fraud because their loyalties are such that they can = +always get other gypsies to give=20 +testimony that "proves" their innocence. Obviously the system would be in = +serious trouble if too many=20 +people belonged to such groups. Some of the=20 +early-20th century Chinese thinkers who were concerned with modernizing = +China recognized the necessity=20 +of breaking down small-scale social groups such as the family: "(According = +to Sun Yat-sen) The Chinese=20 +people needed a new surge of patriotism, which would lead to a transfer of = +loyalty from the family to the=20 +state. . .(According to Li Huang) traditional attachments, particularly to = +the family had to be abandoned if=20 +nationalism were to develop to China." (Chester C. Tan, Chinese Political = +Thought in the Twentieth=20 +Century," page 125, page 297.)=20 + +8. (Paragraph 56) Yes, we know that 19th century America had its problems, = +and serious ones, but for the=20 +sake of breviety we have to express ourselves in simplified terms.=20 + +9. (Paragraph 61) We leave aside the underclass. We are speaking of the = +mainstream.=20 + +10. (Paragraph 62) Some social scientists, educators, "mental health" = +professionals and the like are doing=20 +their best to push the social drives into group 1 by trying to see to it = +that everyone has a satisfactory social=20 +life.=20 + +11. (Paragraphs 63, 82) Is the drive for endless material acquisition = +really an artificial creation of the=20 +advertising and marketing industry? Certainly there is no innate human = +drive for material acquisition.=20 +There have been many cultures in which people have desired little material = +wealth beyond what was=20 +necessary to satisfy their basic physical needs (Australian aborigines, = +traditional Mexican peasant culture,=20 +some African cultures). On the other hand there have also been many = +pre-industrial cultures in which=20 +material acquisition has played an important role. So we can't claim that = +today's acquisition-oriented=20 +culture is exclusively a creation of the advertising and marketing = +industry. But it is clear that the=20 +advertising and marketing industry has had an=20 +important part in creating that culture. The big corporations that spend = +millions on advertising wouldn't be=20 +spending that kind of money without solid proof that they were getting it = +back in increased sales. One=20 +member of FC met a sales manager a couple of years ago who was frank enough = +to tell him, "Our job is to=20 +make people buy things they don't want and don't need." He then described = +how an untrained novice could=20 +present people with the facts about a product, and make no sales at all, = +while a trained and experienced=20 +professional salesman would make lots of sales to the same people. This = +shows that people are manipulated=20 +into buying things they don't really want.=20 + +12. (Paragraph 64) The problem of purposelessness seems to have become less = +serious during the last 15=20 +years or so, because people now feel less secure physically and = +economically than they did earlier, and the=20 +need for security provides them with a goal. But purposelessness has been = +replaced by frustration over the=20 +difficulty of attaining security. We emphasize the problem of = +purposelessness because the liberals and=20 +leftists would wish to solve our social problems by having society = +guarantee everyone's security; but if that=20 +could be done it would only bring back the problem of purposelessness. The = +real issue is not whether=20 +society provides well or poorly for people's security; the trouble is that = +people are dependent on the system=20 +for=20 +their security rather than having it in their own hands. This, by the way, = +is part of the reason why some=20 +people get worked up about the right to bear arms; possession of a gun puts = +that aspect of their security in=20 +their own hands.=20 + +13. (Paragraph 66) Conservatives' efforts to decrease the amount of = +government regulation are of little=20 +benefit to the average man. For one thing, only a fraction of the = +regulations can be eliminated because most=20 +regulations are necessary. For another thing, most of the deregulation = +affects business rather than the=20 +average individual, so that its main effect is to take power from the = +government and give it to private=20 +corporations. What this means for the average man is that government = +interference in his life is replaced by=20 +interference from big corporations, which may be permitted, for e xample, = +to dump more chemicals that=20 +get into his water supply and give him cancer. The conservatives are just = +taking the average man for a=20 +sucker, exploiting his resentment of Big Government to promote the power of = +Big Business.=20 + +14. (Paragraph 73) When someone approves of the purpose for which = +propaganda is being used in a given=20 +case, he generally calls it "education" or applies to it some similar = +euphemism. But propaganda is=20 +propaganda regardless of the purpose for which it i s used.=20 + +15. (Paragraph 83) We are not expressing approval or disapproval of the = +Panama invasion. We only use it=20 +to illustrate a point.=20 + +16. (Paragraph 95) When the American colonies were under British rule there = +were fewer and less effective=20 +legal guarantees of freedom than there were after the American Constitution = +went into effect, yet there was=20 +more personal freedom in pre-industria l America, both before and after the = +War of Independence, than=20 +there was after the Industrial Revolution took hold in this country. We = +quote from "Violence in America:=20 +Historical and Comparative perspectives," edited by Hugh Davis Graham and = +Ted Robert Gurr, Chapter 12=20 +by Roger Lane, pages 476-478: "The progressive heightening of standards o f = +property, and with it the=20 +increasing reliance on official law enforcement (in 19th century America). = +.. .were common to the whole=20 +society. . .[T]he change in social behavior=20 +is so long term and so widespread as to suggest a connection with the most = +funda mental of contemporary=20 +social processes; tha t of industrial urbanization itself. . = +.."Massachusetts in 1835 had a population of some=20 +660,940, 81 percent rural, overwhelmingly preindustrial and native born. = +It's citizens were used to=20 +considerable personal freedom. Whether teamsters, farmers or artisa ns, = +they were all accustomed to setting=20 +thei r own schedules, and the nature of their work made them physically = +dependent on each other. .=20 +..Individual problems, sins or even crimes, were not generally cause for = +wider social concern. . ."But the=20 +impact of the twin movements to the city and to the fac tory, both just = +gathering force in 1835, had a=20 +progressive effect on personal behavior=20 +throughout the 19th century and into the 20th. The factory demanded = +regularity of behavior, a life=20 +governed by obedience to the rhythms of clock and calendar, the demands of = +foreman and supervisor. In=20 +the city or town, the needs of living in closely packed neighborhoods = +inhibited many actions previously=20 +unobjectionable.=20 + +Both blue- and white-collar employees in larger establishments were = +mutually dependent on their fellows.=20 +as one man's work fit into another's, so one man's business was no longer = +his own. "The results of the new=20 +organization of life and work were appar ent by 1900, when some 76 percent = +of the 2,8 05,346 inhabitants=20 +of Massachusetts were classified as urbanites. Much violent or irregular = +behavior which had been tolerable=20 +in a casual, independent society was no longer acceptable in the more = +formalized, cooperative atmosphere=20 +of the later period. . . The move to the cities had, in short, produc ed a = +more tractable, more socialized,=20 +more 'civilized' generation than its predecessors."=20 + +17. (Paragraph 117) Apologists for the system are fond of citing cases in = +which elections have been=20 +decided by one or two votes, but such cases are rare.=20 + +18. (Paragraph 119) "Today, in technologically advanced lands, men live = +very similar lives in spite of=20 +geographical, religious and political differences. The daily lives of a = +Christian bank clerk in Chicago, a=20 +Buddhist bank clerk in Tokyo, a Communist bank clerk in Moscow are far more = +alike than the life any one=20 +of them is like that of any single man who lived a thousand years ago. = +These similarities are the result of a=20 +common technology. . ." L. Sprague de Camp, "The Ancient Engineers," = +Ballentine edition, page 17.=20 + +The lives of the three bank clerks are not IDENTICAL. Ideology does have = +SOME effect. But all=20 +technological societies, in order to survive, must evolve along = +APPROXIMATELY the same trajectory.=20 + +19. (Paragraph 123) Just think an irresponsible genetic engineer might = +create a lot of terrorists.=20 + +20. (Paragraph 124) For a further example of undesirable consequences of = +medical progress, suppose a=20 +reliable cure for cancer is discovered. Even if the treatment is too = +expensive to be available to any but the=20 +elite, it will greatly reduce their incen tive to stop the escape of = +carcinogens into the environment.=20 + +21. (Paragraph 128) Since many people may find paradoxical the notion that = +a large number of good things=20 +can add up to a bad thing, we will illustrate with an analogy. Suppose Mr. = +A is playing chess with Mr. B.=20 +Mr. C, a Grand Master, is looking over Mr . A's shoulder. Mr. A of course = +wants to win his game, so if Mr.=20 +C points out a good move for him to make, he is doing Mr. A a favor. But = +suppose now that Mr. C tells Mr.=20 +A how to make ALL of his moves. In each particular instance he does Mr. A a = +favor by showing him his=20 +best move, but by making AL L of his moves for him he spoils the game, s = +ince there is not point in Mr.=20 +A's playing the game at all if someone else makes all his moves.=20 + +The situation of modern man is analogous to that of Mr. A. The system makes = +an individual's life easier for=20 +him in innumerable ways, but in doing so it deprives him of control over = +his own fate.=20 + +22. (Paragraph 137) Here we are considering only the conflict of values = +within the mainstream. For the=20 +sake of simplicity we leave out of the picture "outsider" values like the = +idea that wild nature is more=20 +important than human economic welfare.=20 + +23. (Paragraph 137) Self-interest is not necessarily MATERIAL = +self-interest. It can consist in fulfillment of=20 +some psychological need, for example, by promoting one's own ideology or = +religion.=20 + +24. (Paragraph 139) A qualification: It is in the interest of the system to = +permit a certain prescribed degree=20 +of freedom in some areas. For example, economic freedom (with suitable = +limitations and restraints) has=20 +proved effective in promoting economic growth. But only planned, = +circumscribed, li mited freedom is in=20 +the interest of the system. The individual must always be kept on a leash, = +even if the leash is sometimes=20 +long( see paragraphs 94, 97).=20 + +25. (Paragraph 143) We don't mean to suggest that the efficiency or the = +potential for survival of a society=20 +has always been inversely proportional to the amount of pressure or = +discomfort to which the society=20 +subjects people. That is certainly not the c ase. There is good reason to = +believe that ma ny primitive=20 +societies subjected people to less pressure than the European society did, = +but European society proved far=20 +more efficient than any primitive society and always won out in conflicts = +with such societies because of the=20 +advantages conferred by te chnology.=20 + +26. (Paragraph 147) If you think that more effective law enforcement is = +unequivocally good because it=20 +suppresses crime, then remember that crime as defined by the system is not = +necessarily what YOU would=20 +call crime. Today, smoking marijuana is a "crime ," and, in some places in = +the U.S.., so is p ossession of=20 +ANY firearm, registered or not, may be made a crime, and the same thing may = +happen with disapproved=20 +methods of child-rearing, such as spanking. In some countries, expression = +of dissident political opinions is=20 +a crime, and there is no certaint y that this will never happen in the = +U.S., s ince no constitution or political=20 +system lasts forever.=20 + +If a society needs a large, powerful law enforcement establishment, then = +there is something gravely wrong=20 +with that society; it must be subjecting people to severe pressures if so = +many refuse to follow the rules, or=20 +follow them only because forced. Man y societies in the past have gotten by = +with little or no formal law- +enforcement.=20 + +27. (Paragraph 151) To be sure, past societies have had means of = +influencing behavior, but these have been=20 +primitive and of low effectiveness compared with the technological means = +that are now being developed.=20 + +28. (Paragraph 152) However, some psychologists have publicly expressed = +opinions indicating their=20 +contempt for human freedom. And the mathematician Claude Shannon was quoted = +in Omni (August 1987)=20 +as saying, "I visualize a time when we will be to robots what dogs are to = +humans, and I'm rooting fo r the=20 +machines."=20 + +29. (Paragraph 154) This is no science fiction! After writing paragraph 154 = +we came across an article in=20 +Scientific American according to which scientists are actively developing = +techniques for identifying=20 +possible future criminals and for treating the m by a combination of = +biological and psychol ogical means.=20 +Some scientists advocate compulsory application of the treatment, which may = +be available in the near=20 +future. (See "Seeking the Criminal Element", by W. Wayt Gibbs, Scientific = +American, March 1995.)=20 +Maybe you think this is OK because the trea tment would be applied to those = +who might be come drunk=20 +drivers (they endanger human life too), then perhaps to peel who spank = +their children, then to=20 +environmentalists who sabotage logging equipment,=20 +eventually to anyone whose behavior is inconvenient for the system. = + + +30. (Paragraph 184) A further advantage of nature as a counter-ideal to = +technology is that, in many people,=20 +nature inspires the kind of reverence that is associated with religion, so = +that nature could perhaps be=20 +idealized on a religious basis. It is tr ue that in many societies religion = +has serve d as a support and=20 +justification for the established order, but it is also true that religion = +has often provided a basis for=20 +rebellion. Thus it may be useful to introduce a religious element into the = +rebellion against technology, the=20 +more so because Weste rn society today has no strong religious fou ndation. = + + +Religion, nowadays either is used as cheap and transparent support for = +narrow, short-sighted selfishness=20 +(some conservatives use it this way), or even is cynically exploited to = +make easy money (by many=20 +evangelists), or has degenerated into crude irrati onalism (fundamentalist = +Protestant sects, "c ults"), or is=20 +simply stagnant (Catholicism, main-line Protestantism). The nearest thing = +to a strong, widespread, dynamic=20 +religion that the West has seen in recent times has been the quasi-religion = +of leftism, but leftism today is=20 +fragmented and has no cle ar, unified inspiring goal.=20 + +Thus there is a religious vaccuum in our society that could perhaps be = +filled by a religion focused on nature=20 +in opposition to technology. But it would be a mistake to try to concoct = +artificially a religion to fill this=20 +role. Such an invented religion would probably be a failure. Take the = +"Gaia" religion for example. Do its=20 +adherents REALLY believe in it or are they just play-acting? If they are = +just play-acting their religion will=20 +be a flop in the end.=20 + +It is probably best not to try to introduce religion into the conflict of = +nature vs. technology unless you=20 +REALLY believe in that religion yourself and find that it arouses a deep, = +strong, genuine response in many=20 +other people.=20 + +31. (Paragraph 189) Assuming that such a final push occurs. Conceivably the = +industrial system might be=20 +eliminated in a somewhat gradual or piecemeal fashion. (see paragraphs 4, = +167 and Note 4).=20 + +32. (Paragraph 193) It is even conceivable (remotely) that the revolution = +might consist only of a massive=20 +change of attitudes toward technology resulting in a relatively gradual and = +painless disintegration of the=20 +industrial system. But if this happens we'll be very lucky. It's far more = +probably that the transition to a=20 +nontechnological society will be very difficult and full of conflicts and = +disasters.=20 + +33. (Paragraph 195) The economic and technological structure of a society = +are far more important than its=20 +political structure in determining the way the average man lives (see = +paragraphs 95, 119 and Notes 16, 18).=20 + +34. (Paragraph 215) This statement refers to our particular brand of = +anarchism. A wide variety of social=20 +attitudes have been called "anarchist," and it may be that many who = +consider themselves anarchists would=20 +not accept our statement of paragraph 215. It should be noted, by the way, = +that there is a nonviolent=20 +anarchist movement whose members probably would not accept FC as anarchist = +and certainly would not=20 +approve of FC's violent methods.=20 + +35. (Paragraph 219) Many leftists are motivated also by hostility, but the = +hostility probably results in part=20 +from a frustrated need for power.=20 + +36. (Paragraph 229) It is important to understand that we mean someone who = +sympathizes with these=20 +MOVEMENTS as they exist today in our society. One who believes that women, = +homosexuals, etc., should=20 +have equal rights is not necessarily a leftist. The f eminist, gay rights, = +etc., movements that ex ist in our=20 +society have the particular ideological tone that characterizes leftism, = +and if one believes, for example, that=20 +women should have equal rights it does not necessarily follow that one must = +sympathize with the feminist=20 +movement as it exists today .=20 + +If copyright problems make it impossible for this long quotation to be = +printed, then please change Note 16=20 +to read as follows:=20 + +16. (Paragraph 95) When the American colonies were under British rule there = +were fewer and less effective=20 +legal guarantees of freedom than there were after the American Constitution = +went into effect, yet there was=20 +more personal freedom in pre-industria l America, both before and after the = +War of Independence, than=20 +there was after the Industrial Revolution took hold in this country. In = +"Violence in America: Historical and=20 +Comparative Perspectives," edited by Hugh Davis Graham and Ted Robert Gurr, = +Chapter 12 by Roger=20 +Lane, it is explained how in pr e-industrial America the average person had = +greater independence and=20 +autonomy than he does today, and how the process of industrialization = +necessarily led to the restriction of=20 +personal freedom. + + +End of message. + + +. +RSET +MAIL FROM: +RCPT TO: +DATA +From: "SMTP Test1" +Reply-to: "SMTP Test1" +To: recyclebin@lon-msgtest06.intra +Subject: Test message No. 7 - MIME text and attachment +Date: date-replacement-string- +Message-ID: +X-Mailer: EPOC Email Version 2.10 +MIME-Version: 1.0 +Content-Language: i-default +Content-Type: multipart/mixed; + boundary="boundary-replacement-string-1" + +This is a MIME Message + +--boundary-replacement-string-1 +Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 +Content-Disposition: inline +Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable + +here is some text + +--boundary-replacement-string-1 +Content-Description: deisl1.isu +Content-Type: application/octet-stream +Content-Disposition: attachment; + filename="deisl1.isu" +Content-Transfer-Encoding: base64 + +cagAAAECqE4CACkAU3RpcmxpbmcgVGVjaG5vbG9naWVzLCBJbmMuIChjKSAx +OTkwLTE5OTUeANzQzSjj0Mwm6tDMJvHQzib40Dsr/9AhJwbRzCafhygA3tDP +JjAjGCjq0MyJ9dDMifzQzIv/08x7WBzOJg3RIysU0SMrG9EwJ4AAAAD/AAD/ +AAAA//8A/wAAAP8A/wD//wAA////AHd3d3d3d3d3d3d3d3d3d3d3d3d3d3d3 +d3d3d3d3d3d3d3d3d3AAAAAAAAAAB3d3d3d3d3d4d3d3d3d3dwd3d3d3d3d3 +eP////////cHd3d3d3d3d3j////////3B3d3d3d3d3d4////////9wd3d3d3 +d3d3eP////////cHd3d3d3d3d3j4AAAAD//3B3d3d3d3d3d4+HgI9w//9wd3 +d3d3d3d3ePh4iIcP//cHd3d3d3d3d3j4d3d3ARERF3d3d3d3d3d4+H//9wzM +zMd3d3d3d3d3ePh///cP//cHd3d3d3d3d3j4f//3D//3B3d3d3d3d3d494iI +iP//9wd3d3d3d3d3eP////////cHd3d3d3d3d3j////////3B3d3d3d3d3d4 +//////+IiAd3d3d3d3d3eP//////j3h3d3d3d3d3d3j//////4eHd3d3d3d3 +d3d4//////+Id3d3d3d3d3d3eIiIiIiIh3d3d3d3d3d3d3d3d3d3d3d3d3d3 +d3d3d3d3d3d3d3d3d3d3d3d3d3d3d3dwAAAAd3d3d3d3d3d3d3d3cIiIgHd3 +d3d3d3d3d3d3d3CIiIB3d3d3d3d3d3d3d3dwiIiAd3d3d3d3d3d3d3d3cIiI +gHd3d3d3d3d3d3dwAACIiIAAAHd3d3d3d3d3cIiIiIiIiIB3d3d3d3d3d3cI +iIiIiIgHd3d3d3d3d3d3cIiIiIiAd3d3d3d3d3d3d3cIiIiIB3d3d3d3d3d3 +d3d3cIiIgHd3d3d3d3d3d3d3d3cIiAd3d3d3d3d3d3d3d3d3cIB3d3d3d3d3 +d3d3d3d3d3cHd3d3d3d3d3d3d3d3d3d3d3d3d3d3d3d3d3d3d3d3d3d3d3d3 +d3d3d3d3AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHd3d3eDMzMzMzMzMzMzMzMHd3d3i3t7e3t7e3 +t7e3tzAHd3eIe3t7e3t7e3t7e3swB3d3h7e3t7e3t7e3t7e3AAd3d4t7e3t7 +e3t7e3t7eAMHd3eHt7e3t7e3t7e3t7gDB3d4e3t7e3t7e3t7e3twgwd3eLe3 +t7e3t7e3t7e3sIMHd3h7e3t7e3t7e3t7e4CzB3d4t7e3t7e3t7e3t7eAcwd3 +eP//////////////CLMHd3eId3d3d3d3d3d3d3tzB3d3d4+3t7e3t7e3t7e3 +swd3d3ePe3t7e3t7e3t7e3MHd3d3j7e3t7e3t7e3t7ezB3d3d497e3t7e3t7 +////8Hd3d3ePt7e3t7e3uIiIiId3d3d3j/t7e3t7ewoA3NDMJkfRzSafhwoA +3NDMJkjRzSafhz0A5NAgnFU/PZBVNs4mItHMJ/jS1CZTRj+Vdjo4jBnRQJyG +Pz2Qhjb7i5o23iZ9Rj+VoDo4jHs2NpWxRRiMAA== + +--boundary-replacement-string-1 +Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 +Content-Disposition: inline +Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable + +Here is some more text. 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These should +arrive MIME-encoded. + +=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D + +End of message. + +. +RSET +MAIL FROM: +RCPT TO: +DATA +From: "SMTP Test1" +Reply-to: "SMTP Test1" +To: recyclebin@lon-msgtest06.intra +Subject: Test message No.5 - Empty message body +Date: date-replacement-string- +Message-ID: +X-Mailer: EPOC Email Version 2.10 +MIME-Version: 1.0 +Content-Language: i-default +Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 +Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable + + +. +RSET +MAIL FROM: +RCPT TO: +DATA +From: "SMTP Test1" +Reply-to: "SMTP Test1" +To: recyclebin@lon-msgtest06.intra +Subject: Test message No.4 - Trailing spaces and tab characters +Date: date-replacement-string- +Message-ID: +X-Mailer: EPOC Email Version 2.10 +MIME-Version: 1.0 +Content-Language: i-default +Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 +Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable + +This line has 1 trailing space character >=20 +This line has 2 trailing space characters> =20 +This line has 3 trailing space characters> =20 +This line has 4 trailing space characters> =20 + +This line has 1 trailing TAB character >=09 +This line has 2 trailing TAB characters> =09 +This line has 3 trailing TAB characters> =09 +This line has 4 trailing TAB characters> =09 + +End of message. + +. +RSET +MAIL FROM: +RCPT TO: +DATA +From: "SMTP Test1" +Reply-to: "SMTP Test1" +To: recyclebin@lon-msgtest06.intra +Subject: Test message No.3 - Wrapped lines +Date: date-replacement-string- +Message-ID: +X-Mailer: EPOC Email Version 2.10 +MIME-Version: 1.0 +Content-Language: i-default +Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 +Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable + +This message contains a series of lines - which +range between 90 and 70 characters in length. + + +90CHARS890123456789012345678901234567890123456789012345678901234567890123456= +78901234567890 + +89CHARS890123456789012345678901234567890123456789012345678901234567890123456= +7890123456789 + +88CHARS890123456789012345678901234567890123456789012345678901234567890123456= +789012345678 + +87CHARS890123456789012345678901234567890123456789012345678901234567890123456= +78901234567 + +86CHARS890123456789012345678901234567890123456789012345678901234567890123456= +7890123456 + +85CHARS890123456789012345678901234567890123456789012345678901234567890123456= +789012345 + +84CHARS890123456789012345678901234567890123456789012345678901234567890123456= +78901234 + +83CHARS890123456789012345678901234567890123456789012345678901234567890123456= +7890123 + +82CHARS890123456789012345678901234567890123456789012345678901234567890123456= +789012 + +81CHARS890123456789012345678901234567890123456789012345678901234567890123456= +78901 + +80CHARS890123456789012345678901234567890123456789012345678901234567890123456= +7890 + +79CHARS890123456789012345678901234567890123456789012345678901234567890123456= +789 + +78CHARS890123456789012345678901234567890123456789012345678901234567890123456= +78 + +77CHARS890123456789012345678901234567890123456789012345678901234567890123456= +7 + +76CHARS890123456789012345678901234567890123456789012345678901234567890123456= + + +75CHARS89012345678901234567890123456789012345678901234567890123456789012345 + +74CHARS8901234567890123456789012345678901234567890123456789012345678901234 + +73CHARS890123456789012345678901234567890123456789012345678901234567890123 + +72CHARS89012345678901234567890123456789012345678901234567890123456789012 + +71CHARS8901234567890123456789012345678901234567890123456789012345678901 + +70CHARS890123456789012345678901234567890123456789012345678901234567890 + +End of message. + +. +RSET +MAIL FROM: +RCPT TO: +DATA +From: "SMTP Test1" +Reply-to: "SMTP Test1" +To: recyclebin@lon-msgtest06.intra +Subject: Test message No.2 - Dot stuffing test +Date: date-replacement-string- +Message-ID: +X-Mailer: EPOC Email Version 2.10 +MIME-Version: 1.0 +Content-Language: i-default +Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 +Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable + +This message contains a block of dot characters,=20 +arranged into the shape of a triangle. 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