While reading the section on page 463, A Brief History of the Industrial Revolution, it gave me the question of “what if the industrial revolution never actually happened?” What would this have changed in history? Would the world be as polluted as it is now? or less? All these questions made me want to rewrite history and see what would be different about the industrial part of the world.
As it says on page 463, paragraph 3, “Of course, the industrialists, engineers, inventors, and other minds behind the Industrial Revolution never intended such consequences.” Back then as well as a lot of people still today, don’t think about the consequences of a building or the use of buildings. If people did think about the consequences back then what would the world be like today?
- Billions of toxins wouldn’t be in the air, water or ground
- Certain materials, such as; synthetics and plastics wouldn’t be left on the earth for younger generations to get rid of. The amount of pollution from materials would be less.
- There wouldn’t be as many state/nation/country regulations and laws against certain materials or substances.
These are a few items from reading that would be changed for the better. Overall we would have less pollution, waste, a better economy, and most likely less political problems. However, the Industrial Revolution was not only a bad time for the world. It had many positive effects on society, especially within the workforce, creating job opportunities for people around the world. But with this increase in job opportunities came more pollution from factories and a higher demand for faster service. Which meant it was cheap labor for longer days. This also meant that specialized jobs were being filled around the world such as doctors and dentists, but with a pro comes a con. This was the back and forth motion with the Industrial Revolution.
