Do You Know?

John Darvill

1992

Published in:

The Northwest Technocrat, 3rd quarter 1992, No. 328

...We, collectively, are very easily manipulated and deceived. We are apathetic, largely influenced by what appears on T.V. and what we hear on the radio or read in newspapers. We believe what we want to, not because it is so, but because it makes us comfortable. We prefer not to consider the future consequences of our actions, even though they may seriously affect the lives of our children and grandchildren. If we don't think seriously about our many problems then we don't feel impelled to do very much about them, and so social conditions continue to deteriorate while still we ignore them. The way things are is largely of our own choosing; we accept, and our so-called leaders think we acquiesce. To improve we must change--and change drastically. The Price System, based on commodity evaluation, must go to be replaced with a system operated on the basis of function that controls and operates technology to provide the maximum benefits for all -- controlling the physical equipment instead of people, while at the same time protecting the environment to the maximum possible for the future well being of this planet and all of its inhabitants. Technocracy has been saying for nearly sixty years that monetary restrictions would lead to the collapse of this system as we know it. The evidence is mounting that this collapse is not too far distant.

...As more technology is installed and its efficiency increases, jobs are displaced because machines are more effective, cheaper and pose no labour problems. But they do not consume -- hence more productivity, fewer workers and decreased consumption. Example: a new banking system to handle the 2.5 million credit card payments a month is being introduced; it will process 30,000 payments an hour. The present system handles 2,000. It is therefore hardly surprising to find that the U.S. banking industry will eliminate about 100,000 jobs this year and approximately 200,000 this decade.

...Living standards are declining, from 1969 to 1989, work hours increased for the average worker by one month a year, and they took 15% fewer days off. Real wages have declined steadily since 1973. Increased housing costs, health care and the cost of all basic requirements have added to this decline in living standards. Double incomes are now a necessity for most families if they are to enjoy a reasonable life style. Unfortunately, the ability to maintain a decent standard of life is becoming increasingly more difficult for more people. In the U.S.A., 25% of all families are headed by single parents; this figure in 1970 was 11%. The majority of single parents are women who on average earn only 75% of that of their male counterparts. Debt, relative to income, rose sharply in the 1980s, making the U.S. the developed world's lowest savers. In the decade 1960-70, savings represented 8% of income; today it is 5% and expected to fall. More debt means less disposable income, which means less ability to purchase, which means less consumption, which means less business, which means less jobs, which leads to a declining tax base, which means more taxes for those still working and therefore less disposable income for them, which means etc., etc.

...As the business climate becomes less attractive, as government expenses rise, less money is available for research and development, which means that innovations and discoveries essential for future well-being and improved standards lags behind; this further erodes the prospect for improved living standards in the future. The backbone of any Price System economy is the middle class. In the last 15 to 20 years, the gap in wage scales between top and bottom wage earners has increased rapidly -- very big increases at the top, significant losses below -- again leading to a drop in consumption and a lowering of living standards.

...Looming over all of these economic woes is the breakdown of the environment, rising population, a declining resource base, increasing poverty and disease. None of today's complex problems can be dealt with within the framework of a Price System. It is inadequate -- cannot cope with the magnitude of the problems that exist today. It works reasonably well under scarcity conditions when hand tool methods are applied and human and animal muscle power are the main sources of energy. It was not intended to cope with modern technological conditions wherein over 98% of everything we produce is done by extraneous energy. Change in our methods of operation is long past due. By our attitudes we have allowed this system to deteriorate to its present state; to change will require a tremendous change in attitude plus a realization of the limiting factors of the Price System. Think about it, act upon it -- while there is still time.