Was the Industrial Revolution good or bad?

Question

In the long and short run?

Answer 1

Long run: since we're here now, and are people whose lifestyle was formed by the industral revolution and its successors, the industiral revolution was good. Any complaints are luxuries that we enjoy because we have now advanced beyond the industiral revolution. If this isn't obvious, think like this: let's say the industrial revolution had not occurred and China, or some other place, had enjoyed continued advance. We would be the underdeveloped area and there would no doubt be major campaigns, rock concerts, and the like to raise aid for us.

Short run: in the first generation or so of the industrial revolution, perhaps for as much as the first 100 years, from the late 18th century through to the late 19th century, there was considerable misery. People were dislocated in country regions, drawn into big cities, housed in slums, overworked, lived in unsanitory conditions — the change was something not planned, chaotic, and rudiments of living in large, close settlemens (such as basic public health and hygiene) had not yet been worked out. But the debate is still on as to whether stayiing in the countryside would have been better, since conditions of rural overpopulation and poverty belie the romantic myth of the happy peasant who was corrupted by industry.

Added value: there is an interesting comment I remember from the book by Professor Ulam, THE UNFINISHED REVOUTION, a study of Marxism that was first published in the 1960s. Ulam frames his major criticism of Marxism around the idea that Marx and Engel confused the troubles of the early industrial capitalism (the industrial revolution), the birthpangs of industrial capitalism, with what they thought were the death throes of the system, and hence their entire theory was misdirected as an "end days" theory rather than as a contribution to the rudimentary theory of economic development.

Answer 2

I'm asuming your talking about the American Industrial Revolution.

In the long run it was good. The burst of industry opened up thousands of new jobs, these new jobs brought more people from rural areas into urban areas creating more cities. The Industrial Revolution allowed for a wider and larger quantity of products available for consumers world wide and at a cheaper price. This new burst of industry also lead to the creation of many huge buisnesses such as U.S. Steel (founded by Andrew Carnegie) and Standard Oil (John D. Rockefeller) these new buisnesses creating new ways of doing buisness, which allowed the economy to flourish, however there were drawbacks to all of these.

In the Short run the Industrial Revolution caused a vast amount of corruption. Workers for these industries had a terrible working enviroment. They worked over 12 hours, they were payed around $2 a day (women even less), they didn't have any compensation if they were hurt (if they were hurt too severely to work then they were fired), and children as young as four were used as workers. The boom of of cheaper products hurt several specialty buisnesses, many large industries offered products that were the like the specialty buisnesses', but of a lower quality, the industries product was just cheaper. Large buisnesses during the Industrial revolution were mostly cutt throat fighters who would do anything for money or just plain old corrupt. Rockefeller was known for his savage buisness tactics of buying out all competition in order to create a monopoly (one buisness has complete control over a certain industry and there fore can set prices as high as they please, monopolies are now illegal in the U.S.), buisnesses such as the railroads were also very corrupt, investors of this buisness lied about the status of their buisness in order to gain more money.

In the long run the Industrial Revolution aided America in moderinization.

In the short run it hurt many citzens of America, but these problems were quickly corrected.

Answer 3

well the industrial revolution is a big subject, a generlized good or bad is hard to say. On one hand the industrial revolution led to our modern world as we know it today, It aslo brought a better standard of living for many europeans and increased the population at a rate naver before seen in euroope. On the other hand, the industrial revolution led to imperialism, which is the domination of weaker peoples by the europeans. the industrial revolution also made it posible for war to be waged ona scale naver seen before, hence ww1-ww2.

In the end the standard of living that we have acheived in US and elsewar is due to the industrial revolution, also the population has incread around the world to size never before see, and people live longer. so i say it was good

Answer 4

real, you won't be able to omit something you in no way had. That pronounced, i'm especially specific i might nevertheless omit air con. regardless of the undeniable fact that. Oil spills: properly, there'd be fewer. Oil somewhat leaks into the sea by making use of itself besides, purely no longer unexpectedly. except some kind of seismic pastime shoves a gaggle of the stuff upward in an earthquake/tsunami kind of difficulty, then that's unexpectedly back, yet there does no longer be the "extra beneficial" spills. super Carbon Emissions: this may be no longer ordinary to have faith, yet organic components pour out a lot of carbon emissions. woodland fires, for occasion. Animal manure is a brilliant one, too. Wars much less extreme: I take it which you realize little of pre-commercial conflict. much less pollutants: real... for the main section. Happier: I doubt it, yet that's quite often hypothesis on my section. I see the place you're coming from, although I regretfully might desire to disagree. i might *like* to need I lived in early medieval Iceland, yet....

Answer 5

there were both pros and cons to the Industrial Revolution

Answer 6

Do you know what it was. It was how the modern mechanics and machines took over how we live. It improved our socio-economic conditions. YOu may not be sitting at your computer now if that event did not occur.
It was a great thing but like all events in this life, it has its negative side effects.