"Meet Mr. Thoreau'

The General Ludd
Memorial Discussion

Progress or Doomgress?
 
Thoreau, the social critic, had complicated views about industrial and technological progress. He wasn't against all change, but he was much more skeptical than many of his fellow Americans. How do you evaluate the following recent changes or inventions? Do they represent genuine progress? Or, perchance, "doomgress??


The automobile                                             E-mail

Television                                                    The Internet

Home computers                                           Cellular phones                                      

Automation/ Robotization

Suburbs

Credit Cards

The VCR

Video/ Virtual reality games

Home shopping network

Malls

Superstores

Beepers

All written material © Bill Schechter, 2016
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