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Industrial Revolution

Decent Essays

The most powerful forces the world has ever seen are the simple ambitions of those who inhabit it from the moment they wake up in the morning. Seven billion people, all wanting their own piece of the middle-class pie. So far, the philosophy of the free market has prevailed in that quest by lifting entire nations out of poverty, but it is facing an uphill battle by trying to provide a Western lifestyle across the globe without consequences from destroying its environment. The needs of the world’s economies and standards of living simply do not coincide with the long term survival of its environment. It is being destroyed so that we may live more comfortably.
The first step taken down this road, unbeknownst at the time, was the Industrial
Revolution. …show more content…

The world that was once made by hand was now being made by machine, and people that once toiled for themselves in the country ran machines for someone else in a city factory. From the steam engine came the invention of countless other machines; from trains to telegraphs, each one being reliant on the other for its production. One invention led to another, and eventually these technological changes to the nature of society would create, for the first time, a middle class no longer destined by birth to be either rich or poor. All of this was made possible by the inventive, profitable use of resources that lay dormant beneath our feet for millions of years. Fast forward to today, and the effects of the exponential growth of the world’s populations and economies are farther reaching than anyone could have predicted looking at a simple steam engine.
The most worrying effect of this fundamental change to society is climate change, fueled by rising levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. This carbon dioxide is a byproduct of the burning of fossil fuels, which are the remnants of carbon based life from millions of years ago. …show more content…

2). Many Americans simply find it easier to believe that the scientific interests, not business interests, are the biased ones and therefore don’t believe them. Pundits on cable news will say that there is nothing to worry about and discredit science they aren’t qualified to understand. Even if people are exposed to the science, and led to believe it, the consequences are still way off in the future and there is still time to change things (or procrastinate). To those viewing, the need for economic growth and job creation is just as real as it was 250 years ago, so the choice is easy, especially when you have student loans, a mortgage, or a couple of kids. The actions necessary to truly mitigate climate change would require a real sacrifice in standards of living by this generation to save the next; something which the newly middle class countries of China and India, let alone the United States, aren’t willing to do. Who would? In the end, nature will force sacrifice upon the world. It may not happen quickly, and it may not happen to those alive today, but if current trends continue, humans will pay the

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