Jacques Ellul - The Betrayal by Technology part 1 of 6

Philosopher and Sociologist Jacques Ellul explains how technology is not "neutral" and is implicated in every aspect of social relations. I hope this video helps explain why green anarchists are not setting for less when they defend small-scale organization.

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[BandMan6100]

Who says Ellul has to provide a total answer for our problems? Part of the whole problem with the modern mentality is everyone is always looking for the way to "solve" our "problems" and we often just wind up creating greater problems that create even greater inputs to "solve". One only need to look at the situation of the 1st world nowadays and the all the inane solutions to put forward to address the situation.

[BandMan6100]

Ellul does not want us to go back to the Garden of Eden, this is not possible.  What he does is point out that "progress" as we define it nowadays is an illusion. You can dismiss because he links it to theology, but that is just stupid.

[Julia Riber Pitt]

Great video. I would love to know what Ellul would say about 3D printing and the internet.

[gregostaky01]

Can anyone tell me what is the soundtrack at the beginning of the video? thx

[DesecrateConformity]

liberate people by allowing them to create their own work cheaply, are decentralizing, and therefore good. I take more of a "post-civilization" stance than an "anti-civilization" stance. I would recommend you read "Post-Civ!: A Deeper Explanation, by Usul of the Blackfoot.

[DesecrateConformity]

I would say it's more accurate to say that my critique is directed more towards centralization than towards civilization, but my criticism applies to industrial civilization, too. What many green anarchists forget when they say that technology isn't neutral (which I agree with) is that, implicit in this, is the assumption that some technologies are inherently good. I believe that technologies like computers and the Internet, since they don't require much division of labor to use, and can

[DesecrateConformity]

I agree completely. I've always shared the green anarchists' and green decentralists' resentment for large-scale organization, i.e. industrial civilization, but the anarcho-primitvists' (e.g. Jensen, Quinn, Zerzan) postulates that all technology, language, and science are intrinsically oppressive can be topple pretty easily. And all primitive people weren't exclusively nomadic hunter-gatherers. I do agree, from a different perspective, with their critique of industrial civilization, though.

[Julia Riber Pitt]

I understand Ellul's (and Heidegger's, and Baudrillard's, and Zerzan's) arguments against technology and agree with them to a point. However, dismantling technology doesn't seem like a feasible solution, at least for right now anyway.

[firstseasonful]

I think technology is totally neutral. The problem is its position in our system as it became incontrovertible.

[derpaprikalyoner]

"our modern technological society requires huge inputs of energy to sustain, not to mention mining, and harvesting of food to sustain the huge population. With over 2 billion Indians and Chinese now wanting to live a Western lifestyle this is only going to get worse. Even our most "green" technologies are not really green, and generally require all kinds of industrial processes to make. In short, our society is unsustainable"

And how does Ellul's Christian anarchy solve any of this?