‘A Short History of Progress’ (2004) – A Book in Five Minutes No.11

Ramblinactivist 2022/13, 13th April 2022.

Ronald Wright is a Canadian historian and anthropologist. His 2004 book, ‘A Short History of Progress’, started as a series of lectures for CBC. While we might see this book as intersecting with other concerns about ecological collapse, energy supply, or pandemics, what the book proposes is a greater truth: It argues that the failure of urban society is innately, ‘human’.

Whether it is from the point of view of: Who benefits from technology (the first of these reviews); or its effects on those subject to it (the second); or the overarching purpose of that society (this review) – modernity has become a ‘suicide cult’. And even many who are critical of it willingly work to protect and preserve the system that holds them ‘enthralled’, whilst at the same time destroying their future.

If there is a way out of Wright’s ‘progress trap’, then that will only materialise when we step outside the “myths” which our dominant economic culture holds to be true.

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#neoluddites #progress #technology

[ollie]

An amazing book, ahead of its time. Great summary and consideration of its relevancy today @ramblinactivist!