A Change is Needed - Not Capitalism

Technology Will Always Be Here – Nature, living organisms, not so certainly

Technology is discovered and is always there to be discovered. When technology is destroyed it can be reinvented and redesigned. It will always be there in waiting to be discovered. With nature this is not the case. Once it is gone it is gone for ever or at least a million years. So while slowing the pace of technology will not kill anybody not slowing the pace of environmental degradation might. Sure technology might save some people from cancer and what not but it has also led to many cases of cancer from pollution and contaminants in the air, food, and water. Therefore if technology saves us it will only be from itself.

People say that we have to have incentive and capital or else technology would be years behind what it is now. The problem is that the environment is being destroyed. The ocean has far fewer fish and general marine life than it did a hundred years ago. Modern technology has led to overfishing. Runoff from fertilization of farm fields has led to hypoxic zones which are areas of the ocean with little to no oxygen because of large algae blooms. Deforestation has led to habitat destruction for many species of animals and plants. With all this in mind I would ask these people who say we need the incentive of capital or else technology would be far behind where it is now, I would ask them, Where has it gotten us? We have great tv's and some nice medical treatments but that will not solve all the problems we have created.

The incentive of capital leads to overuse of resources and general inefficiency in society. With handouts given to people to stay home and use fewer resources such as gas for their cars we could save much energy by not requiring people to drive to work everyday and expend so much energy in the process. A different mode of operation is needed to stave off disaster. Not a capitalist incentive to bring about advances in technology.

Sure one could surmise that technology has saved countless lives as has it also taken countless lives. Polio vaccines, penicillin, chemotherapy, and many other treatments are due in large part to technology but technology is handled by human beings in an imperfect manner. We are so wont to create a system where everything is accounted for and people aren't allowed to be sloth without having warranted the right somehow that we expend countless energy doing unnecessary tasks, driving countless miles, and causing enormous pollution in the name of not being lazy and also in the name of progress. Therefore advances in technology are counterbalanced by the inefficiency and nature of our society as a whole.

In the end technology may be doing more harm than good.