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Comment by simianwords

10 days ago

But the past few revolutions benefitted everyone and we are better off. Look at industrial revolution, digital revolution. Why do you think it is different this time? If trickle down economics don't work, why is world poverty at all time low and consumption at all time high?

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simianwords

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pyrale  10 days ago

> Look at industrial revolution

I really don't see how one can separate the industrial revolution from colonialism, considering we have chiefs of government in colonial countries on the record saying that colonies are a necessary outlet for industrial goods [1].

Once you've established that link, it's hard to explain that "everyone" benefitted from the industrial revolution.

Even disregarding that, the working conditions created by industrialization allowed for situations that can hardly be described as "beneficial" [2][3][4].

> digital revolution.

[5] provided without comment.

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[1]: for instance, Jules Ferry: https://www2.assemblee-nationale.fr/decouvrir-l-assemblee/hi...

[2]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bisbee_Deportation

[3]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ludlow_Massacre

[4]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coal_Wars

[5]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PRISM

  • sokoloff  10 days ago

    What percent of the population in places which experienced the industrial revolution would be better off if they time-travelled back 200 years? 1%? 0.2%?

    • pyrale  10 days ago

      > in places which experienced the industrial revolution

      People experienced the industrial revolution everywhere.

      I suspect, when you think "places which experienced the industrial revolution", you think about a small subset of areas where some development happened as a result of that, likely the areas where industrialists lived.

      But you would also have to consider other places' experience of industrialization. For instance, Congo under EIC colonial rule did experience industrialization - it was the place where industrial amounts of rubber were harvested to allow for plants elsewhere to produce joints, pipes, motor belts, etc. It's not really hard to believe that, had Congo not experienced that, its citizen would almost certainly have been better off now.

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