Viewing a single comment thread. View all comments

RedEmmaSpeaks wrote

That's a bit of a confusing question. After all, the wheel is a form of technology when you come right down to it.

My objections regarding tech, and I imagine many anti-tech anarchists feel the same, is the Constant Production for the Sake of Production that governs our culture. We have easily produced enough clothing, so probably everyone in the world can wear a new outfit every day without repeating previous ourselves, yet for some reason, we can't say, "Okay, we've produced enough clothes. Why don't we close the factories and work on something else?" No, the factories have to keep going, burning through nonrenewable resources, forever poisoning the Earth.

To often in discussions regarding tech, people think in absolutes, believe that "tech is evil and must be destroyed" or "we can either have tech or live like cavemen." Both mindsets are entirely too simplistic. Rather than throw out everything willy-nilly, why not hold onto what works and jettison what doesn't?

Maybe rather than constantly make new gadgets, why not say, "Fuck Planned Obsolescence!" and regain the Right to Repair. Therefore, when something breaks down, we either try to fix it or break it down to parts, which can be used for other projects. If someone wants their gadget to have part X, rather than throw out a perfectly good device, why not modify their device, so it has part X/feature X? We could have kind of a perpetual yard sale where people can dump off stuff they no longer want, so someone else can pick it up or again, it can be broken down into parts for some other projects.

−1