Was Industrialism Good or Bad?

Was Industrialism Good or Bad?

Industrialism, as it is drawn from the word industrialization, is a term defined as the process of progressive transformation in which a society converts its economic and social perspectives/productions from primarily agrarian to one based on manufacturing processes of its goods. It is a systematic change that basically aims to reshape the productive forces of a particular country. The process of industrialization involves an explicate re-organizing of the economy for the reasons to advance and boost manufacturing. Industrialization is characterized by a more efficient division of labor, economic growth, and the use of technological innovation to help curb and provide solutions to problems as opposed to dependency on conditions outside human control (Schwab, 2017). This industrialization is dated to have begun during the 18th and the 19th centuries in Europe and North America, through what was known as the Industrial Revolution. The industrialization, later on, spread and developed to other countries all over the world. The primary catalyst for industrialization is argued to be the advancements in technological components; that includes the reliance on the inanimate source of power or the energy and mechanization of labor.

The introduction of industrialization has witnessed great significant impacts on how it relates to human living and survival means; this is in comparison from its early time introduction until now. The form of introduction came with its positive and negative parts or impacts that affected humans differently across the globe, and its introduction can be considered to be either good or bad. I believe it was good. The industrialization has overall more good than bad. For its introduction, it has brought about much positivity in our current living as a human, that if they are drawn away from our survival, they would greatly affect the way human conduct and carry out their usual survival styles. Generally, industrialization has brought about change not only pursue economy but also on science, demography, and technology.

I would consider the industrial revolution as good because it has enabled shape life and facilitated in making better societies. Some of the evident examples of how industrialism was good can be revealed through the modern government that was created by the innovations of the time; these forms of governing are still being used in many countries around the world today (Way, 1993). Machines have also started to be used during this period. Machines are a big part of today’s world and influence our lives with all the technology we have now. Also, after the Industrial Revolution, wages, working conditions, and long working days have all changed through the Industrial Revolution, which is greatly contributing to today’s life. Some of detailed facts that can be considered good are;

• There were registered increased deals of food productions as farmers could deploy the advantage in farming as well. Due to the innovated machines that were deployed in farming and also planting clops necessitated cheap means of cropping. This helped reduce food prices which significantly made many families manage to buy even the food thought was for the rich, hence, making them healthier
• New discoveries and inventions made in technology made life simpler for all. It made Europe and other areas that received effects of modernization more advanced as instead of using laborers and slave’s hands to do all tasks; the advancement introduced power-driven machines to do work close to all areas of heavy human labor like in farms, factories, and daily life.
• The industrialization revolution leads to the creation of new means of transport that were seen to be cheaper and easier to use in case when people needed to travel from one location to another. Some of the new means of transport discovered were the railway, which was used to transport heavy cargo and also a large number of people. The boat that would seal through water bodies and also airplanes that would be used to transport people and perishable good over long distances in a short time.
• The creation of new tools and machines that were working in industries and factories lead to many people having a job as they would be employed in factories and industries to provide needed labor.
• Other sectors of business had the capability to emerge due to the industrialism. This is in case of like banking technology. This form of business actually boost greatly, as new means of payment had been discovered, the banking system enables create room for storage and availing cheap means to store and access money at any time since the money was secure(Borrmann & Wolff, 1991). In case of theft, the bank would compensate. More so, the banking style offered loans at cheap charges, this boosted several sectors as many farmers, traders, and other investors would go for a loan. It also availed new ways to invest.

All in all, the industrialism had other shortcomings; some of it was that;

• Child labor was a major issue because work was easy, and children didn’t have to go to school. They had to work long hours, bear heavy loads, and were punished if they noticed that they were sleeping on the job. They were only paying very minimally for their work during all this.
• Due to the increased food production, it leads to an increase in population as people were much healthier, and they would be more reproductive; the increased population caused the settled places to be disease-ridden as they would have no place to dispose of their waste. Other cases registered were pollution of air, water, and soil pollution as machines produced gases that were emitted to the direct environment. Also, there was the exploitation of certain minerals needed for running machines or used as raw material.
• There was very little sanitation because the housing was so crowded, and there was no drainage on the streets, which allowed to store all the trash and waste in the city, making plazas gross and diseases unhealthy. It made their living conditions to be very unhealthy.
• By then, the working conditions were harsh. Many people were taken captives and forced to work on farms so that there can be enough food production so that it can feed the growing population. The slaves were forced to work a lot and given little pay.

In conclusion, considering the big advantage the industrialization caused in its introduction, it is fair to state that its significance boosted the way of life that is even felt in our current living. The industrialization caused tends to rise in standards of living for most people in society. In this response and other remarks as they are elaborated above, we can justify that the innovation of the industrialization that also brought about the advancement in technology had a huge good impact on the living styles of people from different perspectives from the very beginning after its introduction.

References

Borrmann, A., & Wolff, H.-U. (1991). Industrialization in developing countries. Hamburg: Verl Weltarchiv.

Schwab, K. (2017). The fourth industrial revolution. New York: Crown Business.

Way, P. (1993). Common labor: workers and the digging of North American canals, 1780-1860. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.