Only The Organic Can Conform To The Organic
In "Mechanization Takes Command" we witness the results of unbridled enthusiasm for the fruits of mechanization - in this case the advent of the Industrial Age and the creation of consumer society. The introduction of manufactured goods alters the expectations of society. Expectations in turn rapidly conform to what manufacturers find expedient to produce. The rapid centralization of production and the creation of expansive distribution networks brings fresh goods to consumers, and in turn increases the demand for these goods. Monocultures and the decimation of the local producer train a population to value consistency over variety.

What occured at the birth of the modern era laid the groundwork for what can be seen happening today with the advent of global computerization and networking. The proclaimed benefits of a raised awareness of technology and democratization of information is really only available to an elite few, while the masses are made content with paradoixcally greater access to fewer choices. Change being driven by technology with little regard to the needs of society results in oftentimes brutal devices being forced upon consumers and the failure of industries. Office computers are forced into homes with nothing more than market share in mind.

In what I have found to be a refreshing departure from the books that either drool over their keyboards in adoration or cringe in fear of a New Networked World Order, Trapped in the Net: The Unanticipated Consequences of Computerization by Gene I. Rochlin gives a lucid warning about the social consequences of mass computerization without a consideration of the implications.

"Just as the mechanization of work transformed its meaning and representation, moving the worker from the producer of goods or services to being the operator of production machinery, the process of computerization is causing one more step of removal, from being the operator of a machine or process to being the controller and manager of the computer that actually operates the machine or controls the process. It is, in the deepest sense, a reconfiguration of the representation of work.."

It would be interesting to compare Chicago in the period of 1880-1910 and Siclicon Valley from 1970-2000. In Chicago, the raw materials were physical and the problems centered around finding solutions that could be mass-produced for the exploding population. In Silicon valley,

"the people who create new technologies become successful by replacing old technologies. The act of creation in such a tightly would market is, typically, also an act of destruction."
-NYTimes Magazine 3/1/98

In both instances, there is the danger - likelihood - that mechanization or computerization will lead to unintended consequences. Atrocious working conditions existed for those who labored in the mills and factories, and untold environmental damage was done. The example of the packing houses is telling - go to the South of the Yards neighborhood now and all you will see is a commemorative plaque and the old gates to Stockyards - the closed forever a mere twenty years after the book was written. The destruction of entire industries, sometimes replaced by newer safer ones, sometimes not, is paralleled today with computerization. The hubris of Silicaon Valley's venture capitalists and engineers who want nothing less than to "change the world" is self-evident to everyone but themselves it seems.

Elsewhere in "Mechanization Takes Command" we observe the results of what happens when change is driven by social conditions and by culture-to- culture contacts. The results of this change - organic in origin with an organic system as a target are clear. Change occurs three ways:

Change driven by social conditions
Change driven by culture to culture contacts
Change driven by technology

Change that resulted from social conditions is most similar to what I would consider to be organic in nature - that is, change that comes from within. Not that it is successful all of the time, but the chances for a solution that is tailored to humanity is far greater. Contrast the Victorian and Arts andCrafts movements - both were responses to mechanization, yet the manifestations of their responses couldn't have been more different. The Arts and Crafts movement looked to nature and especially the handmade in an effort to improve the lot of mankind in the face of a dehumanizing mechanization.

 Circularity of world view and means appears to me to be more of an expanding spiral than a circle, with experience tracing a line across familiar, yet new ground on each revolution.