Interesting topic imo. From one point of view it was the cause for technological and economic improvements as well as social reforms and there's an apparent improvement in literacy after the revolution took place.

 

 

 

On the down side, you have labor exploitation and pollution.

 

 

 

Would we be better off if it has never happened or not? Discuss.

What industrial revolution...?

What industrial revolution...?

 

 

 

Period in the late 18 and early 19 century.

I don't see how you could say the industrial revolution was bad . . . Unless you're Amish. It was a great leap for society and while it brought new problems with it it put an end to old ones, and as a whole I think we're better off. It was inevitable anyway.

We'd be the same as we were in the 1700s. While global warming might be slowed among other things, we'd still need medicinal advancements or else we'd be dying at the same rate as disease prior to modern medicine.

 

 

 

Sure, it may have brought more problems. But hopefully continued technological advancements can solve those problems without causing too many other problems. Thats the point of advancing in technology -- to solve the world's problems and inconveniences.

Doesn't everyone get forced to write a paper on this by grade 8

 

 

 

But yes, the industrial revolution was good. humanity (well, most of us at least) strive for something new. it's what we've done and will keep on doing

Obviously there are pros and cons, but overall it was good. The advent of industry has allowed easy access to food, clean water, medicine, transport, leisure and all the other things we take for granted these days.

If the industrial revolution hadn't happened, you'd be in a factory somewhere making clothes or carving wood instead of sitting there wondering about it.

If the industrial revolution hadn't happened, you'd be in a factory somewhere making clothes or carving wood instead of sitting there wondering about it.

 

Factories are largely a product of the Industrial Revolution. And it's not as if many people in the world aren't stuck working in factories making clothes and doing other menial labor tasks. This is a pretty complex and fertile topic which I won't get much into, but I would like people in this thread to think of the results of the Industrial Revolution not just from their own perspective but also from that of the majority of the people in the world who have a life drastically different from that of the average American/European/Australian/etc...

Do your own homework.

Woot!

 

 

 

The industrial revolution was certainly beneficial - it opened up a lot of jobs, greatly improved trade/goods, and greatly improved travel.

It's where millionaires started to appear. FOr example Andrew Carnegie sold his empire for 418 or so MIllion dollars.

[bleep] no it wasn't good -.-... id rather live to the age of 35 and walk everywhere than this easy [cabbage] we got today.

 

 

 

What the hell are you smoking?

[bleep] no it wasn't good -.-... id rather live to the age of 35 and walk everywhere than this easy [cabbage] we got today.

 

 

 

What the hell are you smoking?

 

I don't know if you're just not being serious or if you're really that stupid.

 

 

 

From previous posts I would assume the former, but...

[bleep] no it wasn't good -.-... id rather live to the age of 35 and walk everywhere than this easy [cabbage] we got today.

 

 

 

What the hell are you smoking?

 

I don't know if you're just not being serious or if you're really that stupid.

 

 

 

From previous posts I would assume the former, but...

 

 

 

If he is being serious or not, both are valid and popular viewpoints on the matter.

 

 

 

Many people would prefer not being a member of the civilization we live in, but are still subject to it as its nearly impossible to escape. On the contrary he could be using sarcasm and saying that cars and industrialization in general is the reason we're still not living in the "old times".

That's like asking whether the dinosaurs dying out was a good or bad thing. The IR wasn't really a man-made product, so it's a bit pointless discussing whether it was beneficial unless you're analysing it group by group. If you were Irish, it certainly wasn't all that beneficial, for starters, having what limited crops you produced taken away to feed people in England's industrial cities, despite suffering from a potato blight.

 

 

 

If you ever wanna know why America has such a large Irish population, there's half your answer.

 

 

 

If you were a noble in France, it wasn't all that spiffin' either...

The industrial revolution brought good progress in stuff like medicine and other technology, but it also brought pollution. With the means to pollute, we also have the means to stop polluting. It is just a matter of being willing to sacrifice some of our progress. It was mostly good.

 

 

 

As for labour exploitation, would you like to go back to feudalism? :lol:

 

 

 

A revolution started capitalism, and a revolution will stop it.

If the industrial revolution hadn't happened, you'd be in a factory somewhere making clothes or carving wood instead of sitting there wondering about it.

 

Factories are largely a product of the Industrial Revolution. And it's not as if many people in the world aren't stuck working in factories making clothes and doing other menial labor tasks. This is a pretty complex and fertile topic which I won't get much into, but I would like people in this thread to think of the results of the Industrial Revolution not just from their own perspective but also from that of the majority of the people in the world who have a life drastically different from that of the average American/European/Australian/etc...

 

You'd have a good point if I was talking about mechanised factories.

 

 

 

Which I wasn't.

If the industrial revolution hadn't happened, you'd be in a factory somewhere making clothes or carving wood instead of sitting there wondering about it.

 

Factories are largely a product of the Industrial Revolution. And it's not as if many people in the world aren't stuck working in factories making clothes and doing other menial labor tasks. This is a pretty complex and fertile topic which I won't get much into, but I would like people in this thread to think of the results of the Industrial Revolution not just from their own perspective but also from that of the majority of the people in the world who have a life drastically different from that of the average American/European/Australian/etc...

 

In industrial and (post-industrial) countries, even the poorest people are better off now than the richest people where pre-IR, and in undeveloped countries.

Do your own homework.

 

I was kinda thinking the same thing. Either way, we always strive for more. Back then we didn't care about pollution. The benefits outweigh the risk imo.

In industrial and (post-industrial) countries, even the poorest people are better off now than the richest people where pre-IR, and in undeveloped countries.

 

They did have a middle-class and an intelligentsia before the IR, you know. It wasn't all knights and bishops. Why do you think Henry VIII pillaged several Catholic churches across the land? I'll give a hint: it had nothing to do with his marital status. That's the romanticised monarchist version of history they teach you at high school.

 

 

 

Are you seriously saying a starving child on the verge of death on the streets of London now is better off than a Protestant civil servant in the Renaissance period?

While the Industrail Revolution vastly improved the quality of life for people overall, we would be better of without it; the massive population explosion it caused will render our planet uninhabitable sooner or later.

 

 

 

Recycling and saving power won't prevent anything; the only solution would be to cull 5.5B people. But that's never going to happen.

I suppose it would be hard to imagine modern day life without the Industrial revolution but IMO Yes we are better off without it, ultimately the Industrial revolution was the first economic boom which lead to the rest, meaning we've had more money to tinker with things like Healthcare, Infrastructure, Education resulting in better and more efficient systems.

 

 

 

If if didn't occur we could quite possibly still be a primary based nation, Ie Farmers, Foresters, Miners in majority instead of a Third based nation, Bankers, Doctors, Service providers basically in majority. We'd be much more spread out among the countries we live in and infrastructure, healthcare etc wouldn't be up to the grade it was.

He's basically asking us for essay material.

He's basically asking us for essay material.

 

 

 

I'd pretty highly doubt that, this is a forum, built on opinions, loose facts and unsourced information quite often. He'd get better information from Wikipedia than here :|