On Thu, 23 Sep 2004 10:01, Carl Cerecke wrote: > Christopher Sawtell wrote: > > On Thu, 23 Sep 2004 09:17, Nick Rout wrote: > >>more importantly a human is not a "device service or information" > > > > While that's true from a strictly legal point of view, I assure you that > > there are many people who are stuck in the lower echelons of our society > > who feel that they have been reduced to that level. Haven't you heard > > people refer to themselves as being "Just a cog in the machine ..." ? > > Yes, but, hasn't that been more-or-less true for all of human history? > Today, more than perhaps anytime in the past, it is possible to get out > of the cog-in-the-machine feeling. Still difficult for many, I'll admit, > but certainly easier than times past. (I'm no historian, so feel free to > correct me, anyone) The times when the cogs could do something effective about their situations was when there had been a major disruptions to society as a whole. People who were able to adapt to the new circumstances more quickly than their neighbours where able to change their lives substantially.
Examples in European recorded history include the period immediately after the Black Death in the late 14th. Century. The population was halved, thus Labour was extremely scarce, and land was available for the taking. Fortunes were made. The periods after all the wars in recent times have offered similar societal disruptions and moments for change. The next big one will be in 50 or so years when the petroleum age comes to an end. -- Sincerely etc., Christopher Sawtell
