What can I learn about the society that produced this document?
The Philosophy of Manufacturers, written by Andrew Ure, focuses on “the blessings which physio-mechanical science has bestowed on society.” In this current society, the success of the advancement of technology and industry creates a divide among the people. The poor, working class people, believe that factory owners are harassing the poor, while factory workers and owners believe this industrial revolution is beneficial to both sides, and provides unskilled workers with the ability to complete simply tasks with little to no skill. With factories expanding throughout the society and these advancements in technology being used more and more, society is adjusting to these new ways of life that are ultimately beneficial to everyone.
Before factories it was unlikely for women and children to be in the fields doing manual labor. With factories, women and children are able to work in an easier setting with less physical labor. Whenever change occurs in society, there is always a group within the society that believes this change is bad, or will have a negative effect for the long term. The people that are opposing the change within society are people who now have to compete with factories and machines instead of people. These people feel cheated and angry with how they will put in hours of manual labor in the fields, while people that work in or own factories are exerting much less energy and effort, while making several times more money. This current society presents two groups within with opposing views on the use of technological advancements.
A current situation that shares similarities to this society is the current society attempting to switch its’ main fuel source from gas/oil powered machinery, to electric, reusable, clean energy. The people who work within the oil industry don’t want to transition because they will lose their job, just like the people that get put out of business due to factories. With factories and machinery, society now has access to a greater quantity of goods, as well as the ability to create new and improved products. Machines that complete tasks or help people greatly when doing a task, aren’t meant to be used by skilled workers who can do multiple tasks successfully.
The goal of a modern manufacturer is to reduce the tasks diversity for their workforce, focusing them to concentrate solely on one process. Machinery allows people who couldn’t work in the past to have some form of purpose; factory owners prefer “that of ordinary laborers for trained artisans.” The factory owners can pay the unskilled workers lower wages and still produce a product that is similar quality to the trained artisans for a lower price. Furthermore, it may take the artisan to make one product, while within a week the factory can produce ten of the exact same product. Lastly, machine-factories created a whole entire new job market, allowing for people with different levels of intelligence to have opportunity that they never had before to succeed and live a life better than ever.