Newspapers / Winston-Salem Chronicle (Winston-Salem, N.C.) / Oct. 13, 1979, edition 1 / Page 5
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*1 Connec Rapid and pervasive technological innovation has been primarily responsible for the long-term improvements in material well-being that have characterized western industrial societies. But it has also been responsible for such undesirable I consequences as damage to the environment and depletion of some natural resources. s The development of an effective set of policies toward the generation of new technologies?technologies that will meet our social goals?is therefore one of the highest^jorities confronting our society. Technological innovation has, of course, done more than just increase the output of goods with unchanged 'Characteristics. Its effects are not adequately summarized in terms of so many morJtautomobiles, bushels of wheat, or square yards of cotton textiles. Rather, and more importantly, technological innovation over the past two centuries has dramatically transformed the rnmrvo^ifinn r?f thp pmnnmv'c Aiifnnt oc H/oll _ ? v> > ? v vv iiv/iuj J uuipui eft J it VII as increasing its volume. In doing this it has also trans] formed our lives. It would be an unproductive intellectual exercise even 11 to look for 18th-century equivalents (or even the recogI nizable antecedents) of certain products that we take for I granted today?jet airplanes, computers, plastics and II synthetic fibers* vast quantities of electric power availi| able at the touch of a switch, television, telephones, |i antibiotics. H Technology and Capitalism I Historically, this technological development has been 1 ^ery ctosely^connected with the rise of capitalist mstitu" II tions and the powerful incentives that these institutions ?II have providedrttrrough the profit motive, for new tech~ j| nologies The point was forcefully highlighted well over I a century ago by even the severest critics of capitalist II society, Marx and Engels, in the Communist Manifesto, I published in 1848: The bourgeoisie, during its rule of scarce one hundred years, has created more massive and more colossal productive forces than have all preceding generations together. Subjection of Nature's forces to man, machinery, application of chemistry to industry and agriculture, 1 steam-navigation, railways, electric telegraphs, clearing of whole continents for cultivation, canalisation of rivers, whole populations conjured out of the ground?what I earlier century had even a presentiment that such productive forces slumbered in the lap of social labour? Note that Marx and Engels do not attribute this exsi nine ion in nrr?Hl tn f ha omorr???n/?a ? wnr ^ wvj MV II J iV IIIV VN IV 1 g, V IIVV \J I I IW , V.J1 Id j| a religious ethic, or to some new impulse to human inge~~IS nuity. 1 hey attribute it specifically to the rise of bour1 i| geois (that is, capitalist) institutions. I fetters ~ Oneness Dear Editor: ties and give devotion to With all the boycotts, many other causes^except demonstrations, public the poor people's cause. -r^~xnrrestr~ private scandal What does this havcrto do - and social immoralities? with self? Just this. facing our cities, I still j0 ^ow wejj we have a deep regard for ^ave iearne(j these things, home. Home for me ^en we can see more starts with self, reaches clearly the greatness of out to my community, and our potential. To take further extends that self these thoughts and enerthroughout the universe. gies turn them toward Taking notice of the thinos we need to better poor communities in our education, get jobs for our cities across the nation, -?r there is a lot of potential. See Page 19 5 There are a lot of people 3 in the poor community, ~ classified as weak and poor who are some of the i strongest persons or individuals, potentially. I am ^ ^ d%4LJ 1 saying that these persons are very intelligent. ; Mind you now, I must * give you the definition for intelligent. It means having or showing the ability to learn, quick to learn. There are other meanings but we want to look at this one. According to history, we find when books and other information of value were hidden from us, we found a way to consume that knowledge. There has also been the p image of God pinned on the cross (given to us) that had and still has some of us worshipping God as an Man image. In the Book Christians and Jews, it Wachovia has 1' says, "Thou shalt not Kernersvilie area.' make unto thee any grav- venience of locatic en image, or any likeness Because beople b of anything that is in That's why Wac heaven above, or that is in customer. And wh the earth beneath, or that people like Wyatt 1 is the water under the Because we wan ; earth." always be the kind to hank with. Today TV teaches our children and us. There is also the radio. In addi- MemberF D i e tion. we copy other socie4 * :tions: Incen In a capitalist market place, the possibilities tor profitmaking through the introduction of new technologies are vast. Indeed, Marx and Engels take an even stronger position: not only does a capitalist economy offer powerful incentives to innovation; it is also essential for the very survival of the entrepreneur that he innovate ""asTapidJy as possible. As ihey had pointed oui earlier: ''Thg-boufgecwsie cannot exist without constantly revolutionizing the instruments of production . . Profit [Motive Subsequent history has lent support to this aspect of Marx's analysis of capitalism. The market economy, in which private entrepreneurs actively seek to increase their private profits, has proven to be immensely effective in mobilizing inventive and innovative talent. At the same time, the market economy has strongly shaped the direction of technological innovation as well as its rapid rate. Unfortunately, the profit motive has not always worked to advance society's interests. Consequently, the goverment has supplemented the operation of the market place with public institutions or financial support for specific kinds of activities. These include agricultural experiment stations and a wide range of public subsidies to basic scientific research, from which private profits r***v-1?)?. *&J*. ' mt.a^ j:>U<?U.I.j'?iiu?f. .'*??* ..??*. w.>U* ?jkH<v'jM !>?' >?.\,';..'V. .? ?..? -.'< <w...-- / ^ ? SALT II Is the ratifying of the the distance of any other Strategic Arms Limitation weapon known to man, Talks (SALT II) valid? (6,00(r"miles instead oT Was SALT 1 effective? Is ? 3.000). detente the only means of?? Under the current SALT national defense? treaties, America and It is common knowledge Russia have continued to that the U.S.S.R. outnum- stockpile numerous weabers American sea power pons many times the killby a 3:1 ratio and that ing power of previous America is attempting to arms. offset that with the crea- SALT I was effective in tion of the Trident nuclear limiting the numerical posubmarine, a multi-war- tential of strategic arms head nuclear sub with a _ Cao Dana 1ft potential kill radius twice . iovia People ^1 H VHg9pp4HfiN|fi3 H JK, MB , f # r- A-?Cl / > Wyatt Davis ager, University Plaza Office 9 offices in the Winston-Salem/Clemmons/ That' 's more than any other bank. But con?? i t ? t ? >n isn t the only reason people bank with us. ank with people, not locations. hovia assigns a Personal Banker to every y we're proud of our branch management Davis. t our people to UfflPhflUlf) of people you like WWOIwl lUWlCI Bank&Trust \ tives for Inn< 1 ~ y are not readilv available and for which market incentives ' alone are therefore insufficient. Additionally, we have become increasingly concerned ' in recent years with aspects of the innovative process to which we were surprisingly indifferent in the past. New technologies often inflict certain costs upon their natural j and human environment that deserve to he recognized in any social accounting hut are not ordinarily part of private profit accounting. These include environmental ' pollution in a variety of forms and safety and health ' hazards to workers and consumers. ' : J I New Policies i We urgently need new public policies that will offer { incentives for innovation and at the same time protect us against some of the undesirable side effects of tech nology. Developing such policies will call for political courage and leadership as well as social imagination. f The task ot reconciling conflicting group interests and ; priorities without, at the same time, dulling or even 1 destroying the incentive mechanisms underlying techno- f logical innovation, will be an extremely delicate under taking. < Large issues air ai stake History makes n dear that?I private business is strongly influenced by market forces i / m FLYPIEDt FTWl Imm+m / ai vrivi uff # cvi A/ouv Piedmont, and only Piedmont, flies nonstop to Dallas/Ft. Worth from Greensboro/High Point Airport No more connections in Atlanta for you. no more time consuming layovers ' Even our morning takeoff flies straight through with just a quick stop in Raleigh/Durham Lv. Greensboro/High Point *8:1 Oam -A J 2 pm All times are local 'Except Sunday See your travel agent or call Piedmont a Piedmont is going your way, today... on v pi*1 DALLAS/FT. P//Z7/ 9 TV Chronicle, Saftuthy, Octobwr 13, 1979 Piy S ovation :oncermng the direction as well as the pace of inventive ictivity. Thus, tor example, the abundance of forest lands and he cheapness of forest pr<xiucts in colonial America and later) led to the invention of a vast array of ngenious technologies for exploiting wood. The abunJance of good farmland in the American mid-west in the s l^th century generated an incredible profusion of ma- 8 :hines enabling a single farmer to cultivate a tar larger fi icreage than his European counterpart., And the ex- 1 laustion ot high quality mineral deposits in the 20th i :entur\ has alrcadv prompted the development of tech- I nques tor exploiting low quality ores that were previ- ? hi sly neglected?^ ?1 Shaping Technology j| ;)ur histor\ also shows us that technology is extremely I versatile and that it in highlv responsive to changes in 1 nccntives and rewards. It should not he beyond our 8 ngenuitv to use the incentives of the market place to | Jevelop new technologies that will deal much more ij :ffcctivclv with such current concerns as environment I | ind energy It is hardlv surprising, tor example, that private enter- | irise developed technologies that fouled the air and j j rcated watercourses as open sewers tor the effluents a hen no cost was imposed upon them for doing so. On 1 he other hand, we can confidentl\ predict that a system j| >1 taxes or other charges for industrial activities that i| pollute the environment will eventually lead to the de- | ^elopment of new technologies that produce far less |? po Hut ion. Indeed, in many industries far less polluting S technologics are already emerging. j It is a mistake to regard technology as simply consti- |i luting part of the problem, although that has undoubt- || :dly sometimes been the case in the past. Technology is |i jn extremely powerful force whose shape and thrust can 1 be influenced to a far greater extent than is generally recognized But we cannot shape technology if we reject ? ^r st rait jacket it, as has been increasingly the case with ? some ot the regulatory activ ities of government in recent || years. Rather, we should seek ways of increasing the rewards j| or technological innovations of the kind that we regard is socially desirable. Prizes, patent grants, and favorable || ax treatment are some of the mechanisms devised in the jl >ast to encourage innovation. By strengthening such incentives and developing new | ines, we can assure that technology will, in the future, I more consistently arrayed on the side ot the solutions if rather than on the side of the problems. WONT TO 9 fternoon nonstop, It s the kind of service you deserve1 As a matter of fact, the more you check into Piedmont these days, the more you II find that is perfect for you. We ve got new service to new cities from many new places And we ve got people who really believe that you. our passengers, come first Arr. Dallas/ Ft. Worth - ? 10:35 am (Direct) 5:39 pm (NONSTOP) 1/ 768-5171 in Winston-Salem. a Boeing 727jet. OMCNUOKO/NIOH POINT WINSTON SALKM ..f " , < f ? ,-'V 7m^... -i^' nnur *
Winston-Salem Chronicle (Winston-Salem, N.C.)
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Oct. 13, 1979, edition 1
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