Do you think the Industrial Revolution was a good or bad thing?

[TravelingMaaike]

Or do you have mixed feelings of it?

[AmeerX]

It was a good idea especially for the European colonial imperialism. It increased the outputs of finished goods many fold.

I am from Pakistan and here Mughal Empire and in China too the production suffered because machinery use wasn't adopted. We had more people but not as much production of finished goods due to delay in industrial improvement. Looks were hand driven instead of Power looms and steam engines. Had they imported machinery and modernized, no one would have been able to knock Mughal Empire out of the world picture.

Ottomans didn't adopt Printing press timely and they were also left behind. Only successful implementation of the industrial methods was done in Japan.

Dutch and Portuguese in India provided better treatment to locals instead of British East India trading company because they did not expand as much neither did they overrule the authority of the King.

We would still be without machinery had it not been for the convergence of technology in late 1970s to 80s.

Note: this is simplistic view.

[Staximus]

Electricity was the beginning of the end. We shouldn't have evolved further than living the hunter gatherer lifestyle in caves and huts, actually. Tribal warfare over water, women, and hunting grounds was as big as a war could got for the most part. One you have cities, you have more than a few people trying to kill each other. Our species is played out, has progressed farther than we should have. We need to bomb everything back to the stone age and shut off the power before we all are turned into slaves under the thumb of the government like the Chinese.

[A_Bell]

Great thing. Human existence was just that, existence before the surpluses of industry.

[4ngelic]

obv was a good thing, or else we'd be living like in the middle ages practically rn

[Anonymous]

It was the best thing to happen. The industrial revaluation and capitalism have saved millions of lives and brought millions of people out of poverty. I also can't stand by and allow the people to use their typical scare tactics! The industrial revaluation has had very little impact on the environment.

[TravelingMaaike]

You mean it didn't destroy nature?

[Opinion Owner]

That's exactly what I'm saying. Has it had an impact? Yes but it hasn't destroyed it and won't destroy it. Have you ever seen a solar panel farm? Have you ever seen a wind mill farm? Or lithium mine?

[Anonymous]

It's a good thing. It allowed mankind to build the modern world we now enjoy. The only real bad thing about it is we ignore a lot of problems until they become a serious problem. I mean, take modern shipping it relies so much on modern technology now that one strong CME from our sun (like the Carrington event) could send us back to the dark ages so to speak. We could potentially have mass starvation which could lead to the breakdown of society with population used to modern conveniences unable to feed itself

[DummyThiccFeraligatr]

If managed properly, it could be an incredibly positive development for us and not necessarily a bad one for the environment and wildlife. Of course, humans aren't known for their restraint and long-term planning.

[msc545]

It was both good and bad. I don't think the long-term environmental effects were really contemplated until relatively recently, and if they had been, perhaps it would have been modified accordingly. Or because of capitalism probably not.

[DerekC321]

It killed many people. The working conditions (the soot, the incredibly long working hours, the lack of safety, employing those of any age, including children). And of course, the more weapons.

[A_Bell]

Are you kidding? Pre Industrial Revolution had people working 6 days a week 10 to 12 hours a day to barely survive and stave off starvation another year. You were lucky to survive childhood.

Leisure time was a luxury reserved to kings and nobles, not the 99.99% who were virtual chattel slaves to their lords.

Also the environment around horse driven transportation was nasty and putrid. Poor sanitation lead to constsnt outbreaks of waterborne diseases.

It was a hellhole, not a Disney movie.

[DJB72]

There were good elements but the rise of a new type of robber-barons can't be a good thing.

[exitseven]

It was a very good thing. We would still be living in huts if we didn't.

[TallAnon]

It's an inevitability. I think we could discuss the quality of life before and after on a lot of points, but just purely because of the medical advances; I'd say it's a good thing.

[BuckCannon]

A couple of hundred years ago, 90% of people worked in agriculture. Now it's about 3%.

Do you want to go back to working the fields?

[Andres77]

I think it was awesome. I just wish we’d understood pollution back then

[disgustingweebtrash]

The industrial revolution and its consequences have been a disaster for the human race

[CubaPirate]

You can't stop progress but it isn't always a good thing

[juliammm]

It was inevitable because of human nature.

[Anonymous]

Terrible thing. The only thing worse for the world was the 1960s.

[Mansearching]

Evolution of times

[Sonorous]

I believe it was a thing.

[Dargil]

Nothing but good.

[SUMAIREBRAHIM]

Mostly bad