As technology becomes more and more integrated with our society, it is only normal to analyze its effects from a political standpoint. Technology is not a single identity, but rather a network of devices automating the fundamental frameworks of modern industry. The development of technology can therefore be seen as an iterative process which promotes both modern industrialization and advances in engineering. This rapid development is often criticized by those who remain cynical of cybersecurity. Others point out that the rise of "tech giants" are oppressing smaller industries, creating a rigid social hierarchy of companies and engineers. Nevertheless, engineers are people who specialize in optimizing mechanisms, resulting in a rapid and continuous evolution of this industrial framework. Reforms are happening faster than a second between lines of compiled code, and systems reconstructed by a single keystroke. Where are we headed? To a liberal but stagnant Jeffersonian society? Or to a meritocratic but almost oligarchical Hamiltonian society?
Technology is a tenacious tide of never-ending progress. It would only be natural to assume that it diverges from the Jeffersonian ideal of a stable democratic* system. Is the answer to our essential question Alexander Hamilton, by this logic? Well, further investigation of a corrupted millennial paradise suggests otherwise. Certainly, technology is evolving at an exponential rate, but the industry actively contributes to the community. For instance, VMWare, a software company that distributes virtualization software, is actively involved in promoting environmentalism. Just recently, their headquarters have accomplished an amazing feat of zero net carbon. For a company that requires energy-intensive data centers, huge efforts must have been put in to make this possible. Business integration in the community, demonstrated by the example of VMWare, abides by Jefferson's philosophy of a more socialist* and morally united United States. This progression suggests that the future of America, or at least the future of its technological sector, would be a compromise between the two opposing philosophies, with some incline towards Hamilton's capitalistic society due to the nature of large enterprises.
It's crazy that the kind of revolutionary technology that is shaping communication and the way the world will work/has started to work is being developed in our backyard– VMWare is all of a two minute drive from my house. Your article makes me wonder, however, whether Jefferson would have truly supported that big tech business (like a Facebook) that will eventually have so much influence in the community and thus a level of hold over the federal government, who can then impose regulations on the business to limit its power, and in turn sees the federal government's power strengthened? It just seems to me that Jefferson was a man of little hope for super advanced technology that cannot be controlled as much at the state level. That community bond that does result from business integration, on the other hand, might get him excited!
ReplyDeleteI think its really interesting how you looked at this modern phenomenon through the lens of a historian trying to understand whether this new world is what Jefferson or Hamilton wanted when they created our country. I also like how you showed that what we have now is a mixture of two opposing philosophies to how the U.S. should be. I think this leans a little more towards Hamilton's ideal world though because the headquarters of these places are advancing the cities more than the agricultural society Jefferson promoted.
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