The power of technology, progress and exploitation of the underprivileged

 Sunday 29 December 2024

Islamabad (UrduPoint News Today / Pakistan Point News - DW Urdu - December 29, 2024) Man is never satisfied with his environment. He constantly tries to change the world around him. Technology supports him in this process of change. Sometimes he changes the course of rivers, sometimes he makes paths through mountains, and sometimes he removes land obstacles by digging canals for the sake of politics and trade.

The authors have given an example of two canals, one of which is called the Suez Canal and was completed by Ferdinand de Lesseps in 1859. Its shares or shares were sold to cover the costs of the excavation. At that time, the Prime Minister of England, Benjamin Disraeli, bought its shares with money from the Jewish capitalist Rothschild.

After the excavation of the Suez Canal, travel to Eastern countries became easier.

The digging of the canal is considered an achievement, but history does not pay attention to the fact that Egyptian laborers were forced to work in the excavation, for which they were not even paid. There was no provision for the Egyptian laborers to live and eat. The hot winds and heat of the desert, all of these together took the lives of 15 to 20 thousand laborers. This tragedy of the laborers was forgotten.

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After this success, Lesseps was given the task of digging the Panama Canal in Latin America. To fulfill this project, he sold its shares in Europe, America and Latin American countries. The laborers were recruited for the excavation and their salaries were fixed.

But obstacles arose due to the bad weather. Cholera broke out, and malaria spread among the workers due to mosquitoes. Hundreds died due to lack of medical facilities. Lesseps could not complete this project and he himself died during the same period. This shows that states and individuals sacrifice thousands of people to fulfill their interests.

The authors then point to another technology. This was the water-powered mill or wind mill and which facilitated the grinding of flour. The historian of the Annals School, Mark Bloch, has written a research book on the wind mill. Before that, women used to grind wheat on the mill. Along with this, they used to sing songs to reduce their labor. These songs have been collected and published in Ind-o-Pak under the title Chaki Nama.

The wind mill also caused a dispute between the church and the landlord. Because both wanted people to grind wheat in their mill. The bishop of the church took the mills from the houses and put them in the church building and forced the people to grind wheat in his mill.

The authors have also drawn attention to the fact that before the Industrial Revolution, children were forced to work in coal mines.

These children, both girls and boys, were sent to the coal mines from the age of six, where they worked all day. The poisonous gas of the mines made them suffer from respiratory diseases and tuberculosis. Due to the lack of medical facilities, these children died soon. Children were also made to work in factories. Their remuneration was minimal.

The policy of the factory owners was that if the newly invented machines were used in the factory, the workers would have to work less. On this basis, they would cut the wages of the workers.

Along with technology, the institution of slavery also changed the life of the Americas and the Caribbean islands. The work of cultivating sugarcane and making sugar was very laborious.

This work was done by slaves brought from Africa. Initially, to extract the juice of sugarcane, they would place it between two large pots and extract its juice. Then, with time, new technology came and the work of extracting juice from sugarcane started to be done by machines. This was the result of which slavery became a burden for the capitalists. Slavery ended because machines took its place.

If technology has brought the world out of backwardness, the poor people have paid a heavy price for it. Technology brought prosperity and financial resources to the elite, but the lower class people paid the price for it. But their own lives were lived in poverty and despair. Therefore, the question is, if technology only benefited the elite and the common people were deprived of the joy and happiness of life, will this technology and scientific inventions be called a blessing or a punishment for humanity?

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